Consumers continue to fall prey to unscrupulous people who are hell-bent on stealing their hard-earned money using the banking system.
The Office of the Ombudsman for Banking Services (OBS) received complaints totalling nearly R300-million last year.
While the tactics being deployed are, in the main, new, criminals are continuously coming up with new ways to steal from consumers. A recent example is that of John Matthews*.
Matthews seemingly received e-mails from the South African Post Office informing him that he had unclaimed packages waiting for collection at its head
office.
Matthews then received an SMS advising him to pay a fee of R42.50 for the package to be released and sent to his nearest post office.
He followed the instructions on the link he received, and the link opened a payment option on what appeared to be an official post office payment page.
He inserted his card details and received an “approve it” message on his cellphone. He approved the transaction.
Immediately thereafter, he received another “approve it” message from his bank and noticed the word Singapore and realised that he was being
defrauded.
He immediately reported the fraud to his bank and instructed it not to release the pending transaction of R16 061.80.
However, since the transaction was authorised with the use of the card details and the “approve it” message, the bank had already released the funds and refused any liability for the loss that was suffered.
Matthews then reported the incident to the OBS and asked for assistance.
However, he found no joy as the ombud found that Matthews had made the payment himself and approved the transaction through his banking app.
Reana Steyn, the ombud, said over the years there had been a constant change in the techniques fraudsters applied.
“The success of these scams, and their evolution, is heavily guided by how the consumer will react in each situation,” Steyn said.
Steyn offered some tips that the public can use when presented with a possible fraudulent scheme:
- Banks will never ask you to confirm your confidential banking information over the phone;
- If you receive a phone call requesting confidential or personal information, do not respond and end the call.
Contact your bank’s fraud hotline immediately;
- If you receive an OTP [one-time pin] on your phone without having made a transaction, it is likely that it is a fraudster who has used your personal information.
Do not provide the OTP to anybody. Contact your bank’s fraud hotline immediately;
- Do not click on links or icons in unsolicited e-mails or SMSes;
- Do not make payments into an unknown person/merchant’s account without first verifying their authenticity. If you are unsure, go to your nearest bank branch speak to a bank representative;
- When doing online shopping, only use your card to make payments on secure websites; and
- While transacting, always keep an eye on the ATM card slot to ensure that your card is not removed, skimmed, and replaced without your knowledge.
* Not his real name
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