With a drastic increase in reported fraud cases, Somerset West police station commander Colonel Jacolize Fleischmann issued a warning to residents, calling them to be extra cautious when responding to telephone calls from suspected fraudsters pretending to work at banks.
She said fraudsters will contact unsuspecting people claiming to be from a certain bank. They will explain how they have noticed some fraudulent transactions in the person’s bank account.
“They pretend they want to help the client in solving or stopping more illegal transactions from going off the account,” Fleischmann explained. “Gaining the trust of the client, the fraudsters will then inform them an OTP (one time pin) will be sent to their cellphone. The client would then be asked to read out the OTP pin for them to rectify the illegal transactions. Once the client puts the phone down the fraudsters would have managed to withdraw large amounts of money from their account.”
Residents are urged not to respond to these types of calls and to rather visit their nearest bank for assistance.
Somerset West police urges residents to call them on 021 850 1325 or 021 850 1303 for assistance.
