ATM Safety Tips

  • Never under any circumstance allow strangers to assist you with ATM transactions, not even from the most polite and best-dressed men or women.
  • Be alert and don’t allow yourself to be distracted. Never turn your back while your ATM card is in the machine. Never even take your eyes off your card in the machine.
  • If your card gets stuck, immediately call that ATM’s helpline number.
  • Avoid using ATMs after dark or in remote places. Better to draw cash inside a bank (during business hours), where there’s a security guard, or busy places, like petrol stations and malls.
  • Try not to go alone to draw cash, but never ask a stranger.
  • Check the ATM for skimming devices. If you don’t trust it, go somewhere else.

General Safety Tips

  • Avoid an ostentatious display of expensive jewellery, cameras, mobile phones and other valuables.
  • Keep your handbag with you, keep it closed or zipped, and do not leave it unattended.
  • Keep your mobile phone with you and do not leave it unattended.
  • Do not carry large sums of money with you.
  • Exchange your currency at a bank or at the hotel – never exchange it on the street.
  • Carry your wallet in an inside pocket – never in the rear pocket of your trousers.
  • Credit card transactions must be processed in your presence.
  • At night, stay away from dark, isolated areas.
  • It is always better to explore in groups and to stick to well-lit, busy streets. Keep the doors locked and wind the windows up at all times.