TWO employees of a non-governmental organisation in Windhoek still have no answers as to why money was withdrawn from their bank accounts without their consent during December last year.

The employees, working at the Centre for Global Education, bank with two of the major banks in the country.

One employee, banking at Standard Bank Namibia, had N$1 000 drawn from his account in two separate withdrawals while he was on a farm in an isolated part of the country.

The other employee's bank account, held at First National Bank, was mysteriously depleted by N$500 dollars.

Upon enquiry at the bank she was told the transaction took place on a Monday via the Bank's Automated Teller Machine (ATM). The dumb-founded employee recounts that she was at work the entire Monday, and could not have made the withdrawal herself.

When approached by this newspaper, both banks suspected that the employees' ATM cards were swapped without their knowledge.

Apparently ATM card swapping is rife throughout the country, whereby criminals distract a customer, switch the ATM cards without the customer even being aware of the swap.

However, upon inspection both employees produced their cards, and identified them as their own, as both had their account numbers written on the back.

When asked if it were possible for a bank employee to make the withdrawal illegally and make it seem like an ATM transaction, the response was an emphatic 'no' from both banks concerned.

Both banks approached also emphasised that responsibility for the secret pin number lies with the client at all times.

Standard Bank Namibia added that since they have cameras at certain ATMs, they might be able to trace the transaction to a specific date and take a look at the cameras to see who withdrew the money.

Namibian

-- Anonymous, January 11, 2002