Making a withdrawal? An amateur photographer in the bank lobby pointing his camera at you? It might be best not to pose with those large, pregnant sacks, swollen with wads of cash and tattooed with dollar symbols. Smile! Say Cheese! You’re about to be robbed.

A gang of criminals in South Africa are using camera phones to track potential mugging victims in Port Elizabeth. The sting works like this: the gang members, in teams of two, stake out a bank. One waits outside the bank with a leaden cosh; the other hangs around the lobby, taking snapshots of bank customers who make large withdrawals and sending them to their colleague outside. When you exit the bank with your wallet swollen with cabbage, the guy mugs you and runs off.

Granted, it’s all happening thousands of miles away, but criminals read Gizmodo too. So best be wary next time some shifty loiterer asks you to pose for an impromptu snapshot outside the ATM.

Criminals use Cameraphones to Assist in Robbing [Gizmodo]

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