Sassa, banks warn of new scams in Christmas run-up

THE South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has warned social grant beneficiaries of a scam that could result in their having a black Christmas.

The agency said yesterday beneficiaries should be wary of people pretending to be from Sassa and requesting their personal and card details.

Sassa spokesman Kgomoco Diseko said the festive season was around the corner and people with sinister intentions were already targeting beneficiaries with a variety of scams.

Diseko said social grant beneficiaries had been inundated with text messages urging them to obtain new green-coloured cards before January.

“Sassa never communicates with its beneficiaries through SMS and beneficiaries are warned not to respond to any SMSes that these imposters are sending to them,” Diseko said. “There are no new Sassa cards. “The only valid Sassa card has the colours of the South African flag and it will never be replaced by a card that is green in colour.”

Sassa said it only conducted its business from its own offices and beneficiaries should not accept invitations to any other office.

It advised beneficiaries to ensure they did not give their personal or card details to strangers as this could lead to identity theft.

“Beneficiaries should simply ignore these SMSes and if unsure they should call Sassa on 0800-601-011‚” Diseko said.

Meanwhile, the South African Banking Risk Information centre (Sabric) yesterday launched a safe banking campaign, which aims to alert consumers to the threat posed by thieves who make their festive season happier at the expense of others.

A popular scam by tech-savvy perpetrators is the use of lost or stolen cards.

Other ways in which consumers are being targeted include identity theft, e-mail hacking, phishing, deposit and refund scams, and cheque fraud.

Sabric chief executive Kalyani Pillay said digital technologies had given criminals more avenues by which to defraud victims.

The campaign is aimed at helping bank clients to ensure they bank safely over the festive season.

For more information visit www.sabric.co.za