The police have warned the public to be cautious and wary when receiving calls from people claiming to be from their bank’s fraud department.
Captain Fadila September, spokesperson for the Hermanus Police, reports that their has been a recent spike in fraud cases where people were scammed out of large amounts of money after answering such calls.
“In one case,” said September, “the victim received a call from a person claiming to be from the bank’s fraud department. The person informed her that they detected possibly fraudulent transactions on her account. She reportedly also received a SMS. It is alleged that the caller guided her step by step through the online banking process to transfer large amounts of money amounting to a total of R26 500.”
In another case, said September, a couple who wanted to employ the services of a company to move their furniture were scammed out of thousands of rand.
“They received an SMS notifying them that the company’s banking details had reportedly changed and that they were to pay the money for the company’s services into a different account, the woman claimed. They later discovered that they were the victims of a scam and had lost their money.”
September cautioned people never to respond to emails, calls or cellphone messages appearing to be from their bank, requesting personal details.
“Remember, no bank will ever ask you to confirm or update your account details by email,” she added. “Never provide your online ID, password or PIN to anyone and never write them down or share them.”
Here are some more safety tips:
• Do not save your Internet banking password on your desktop.
• Do not leave your computer unattended after you have entered your internet banking password.
• Always log off or sign off at the end of a session.
• Avoid doing Internet banking in public areas such as Internet cafés, or on any computer that can be accessed by people you do not know.
• Change your PIN and passwords frequently.
• Put sensible transaction limits on your accounts.
