Rising cost of living gives rise to scammers

Madam,

Beware, scammers are everywhere. The state of the economy post-COVID-19, rising inflation, rising interest rates, the rising costs of oil, rising cost of fuel, rising cost of necessities and the rising cost of all other goods and services have also given way to the rise of scammers, who prey on innocent people for their hard-earned money.

There has been a high number of cases reported where emaSwati are being defrauded through bogus calls, false SMSes, false notifications, etc. promising help in securing funding through social grants, employment or financial gain through any means possible. The said fraudsters attempt to gain confidential details like the user ID, password, one-time pin, and any other personal details to defraud the public of their money.

Scammers are using social media to launch fake competitions through which they then trick victims into giving up personal financial information or sending a mobile payment. Fraudsters contact individuals and claim that they have won the competition, then request a fee to facilitate the release of the prize.

PLATFORM

Hackers call individuals saying they have qualified for a cash prize that will be deposited into their account. The scammers request the ‘prize winners’ for details regarding their preferred mobile money platform. Once the unsuspecting victim reveals this, the scammer then requests for a one-time pin in an attempt to withdraw funds from the account.

An unsuspecting target may receive a call, text, or email from an individual claiming to be from the customer service department of their mobile operator or bank. They may claim that there is an error with a transaction, or with the account and request for details to ‘verify’ your account details like the balance of your mobile wallet account following which they may request you to reveal other personal information that they use to access the account.

A family member or stranger may request an individual to register a number on their behalf.

This person may appear desperate with no identification documents for registration and request to use the individual’s personal documents to fulfil all the KYC requirements for the purchase of the SIM card. They may offer the individual money as compensation and then use this number to commit fraud.

The scammer may also encourage a group of customers to register their numbers and offer them a lucrative amount e.g E5 000. These preregistered SIM cards are then used to commit fraud.

There have been numerous warnings to practice safe digital banking by

taking all necessary precautions while transacting on their mobile devices to safeguard their funds.

Such precautions include: Never sharing your account details such as account number, login ID, or password, with anyone; not even with bank officials. The bank will never ask you for your password. Be wary of any phone call or email threatening to block your account on the pretext of non-compliance with KYC or for any other reason and a suggestion to click on a link for updating the same is a common modus operandi of fraudsters. Do not download any unknown app on your phone or mobile device. The app may gain access to confidential data. Protect the information on your phone by activating a password.

Regularly check your email and phone messages for alerts of activity on your mobile wallet. Report any unauthorised transaction observed to your mobile service provider or bank immediately and block all accounts to prevent any further losses.

Sema