An alleged card scammer targeted bank clients in Butterworth CBD on Tuesday but ended up getting more than he bargained for.
According to Butterworth Police spokesperson Captain Jackson Manatha, the man whose identity has not yet been revealed, was caught near an ATM in Mthatha Street on Tuesday afternoon.
Footage which went viral shows a naked man surrounded by a crowd shouting at him in IsiXhosa. It shows him being beaten with a stick.
Manatha said: “People suspected him of being a card scammer. It is alleged that he was trying to commit fraud by changing peoples cards at the ATM. When the people saw him they caught the suspect and stripped him naked before beating him up.” He said the man was taken to hospital.
“Police arrived …and he was rushed to hospital. No one has opened a case so he will walk home after he is discharged from the hospital. He has also not opened a case against the people who assaulted him.”
Mantha urged members of the public not to take the law into their own hands.
“Although we do not condone card scamming, we are asking our members of the public to contact the nearest police when they come across these incidents.”..