Grant recipients fall prey to theft
Probe launched after 1 800 cases of Sassa card fraud reported
AUTHORITIES are closing in on a syndicate that has been defrauding SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) grant beneficiaries.
About 1 800 cases of card fraud have been reported to the national agency after recipients experienced difficulties in obtaining their monthly allocation.
A couple from Newlands West in Durban said their grant amouting to close to R4 000 had vanished from their accounts.
“My husband and I tried to withdraw the money in March at the post office, but we were told it had already been withdrawn. We were then advised to go to the Sassa office to check.
“They told us the withdrawals were done in Malvern and on the Bluff,” said Dolly Moodley, who gets R360 a month.
Her husband also receives the same amount as they still work casually.
“We were worried because we had never given our Sassa cards to anyone and no one knew our pin codes.
“Also we left the money in the cards for a few months so it would accumulate and we could take it out when we wanted it.
“We were horrified to learn our money was gone and were advised to open an affidavit at the police station.”
The couple have since received this month’s allocation.
Moodley said it was sad knowing other grant beneficiaries were being robbed of their money.
“A lot of people rely on their money to make ends meet and pay the bills. They also use the money to take transport for their doctor’s appointments and to fetch their medication.”
Sassa spokesperson Mbizeni Mdlalose said they believed this was the work of a syndicate, and were working with law enforcement agencies to net the suspects.
He added this was expected to take place soon.
Mdlalose said those who believed they had been scammed should notify the police and in their affidavits list how much was withdrawn and where the withdrawal had taken place.
The SA Post Office, which also pays out old-age grant beneficiaries, said it had introduced measures to streamline investigations of possible card fraud incidents.
In a statement, general manager of security and investigations, Vossie Vos, said: “There are currently 7.7 million Postbank-Sassa account holders.
“During March 2019, 14.4 million transactions were completed successfully by beneficiaries using the Postbank-Sassa cards.
“Requests to investigate possible fraud were received for only less than 0.05% of these transactions.
“Because
we
understand the immediate impact on the livelihoods of the beneficiaries, all such cases are investigated with urgency by a dedicated team to ensure the affected beneficiaries are reimbursed within less than 15 calendar days.
“However, the bulk of the reported cases thus far have been resolved within three days of reporting by our dedicated team of investigators.”
Vos added that in order to protect themselves, cardholders must ensure theirs card are with them at all times and they must not allow anyone to swipe their cards for anything.
The Sassa call centre can be reached at 0800 60 10 11 and the Postbank at 0800 535 455.