Elderly warned against new bank scam

THE elderly are being targeted in the latest bank fraud scam.

“Several cases have been reported since January this year. The value involved is over R700 000. In a few cases, the bank was able to freeze the account so that the funds didn’t get released. The victims are elderly persons,” said Port Alfred police spokesperson Captain Mali Govender.

National police spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidoo said while he was not aware of reports in other areas, people from different provinces are not immune to the scam.

The caller will identify himself as an individual working in the bank’s fraud division. He/she states that a transaction has taken place on the victim’s account. The suspect has all personal particulars and a profile of the victim, including details of bank accounts, linked accounts and beneficiaries.

“The suspect then states that a transaction has appeared on an account which appears suspicious and enquires from the victim if they have approved a transaction for a large amount of cash from their account, furnishing account details, and when the victim replies in the negative, the caller informs the victim that he will reverse the charge if the victim can go on to their banking app,” reads a SAPS statement.

Once the victim has logged on to their banking app, the suspect tells the victim to supply the one-time password (OTP) that was sent via SMS to their cellphone so the transaction can be reversed. As soon as the OTP is given to the suspect, the suspect starts to transact on the account, increasing limits, adding beneficiaries and making payments.

Head of fraud strategy at Absa retail and business bank, Ulrich Janse van Rensburg, said over the past 18 months they had noted an increase in social engineering, where fraudsters or syndicates trick customers into disclosing their personal and confidential information. With social engineering, syndicates typically pretend to be from a bank and share personal information, often causing customers to let their guard down and disclose confidential information.

“As an industry, we are alive to the threat that this modus operandi poses to customers and we are working closely with other banks and the SA Banking Risk Information Centre in combating this,” said Van Rensburg.

The South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric) told the Weekend Argus that they are aware of this modus operandi.

Chief executive of Sabric, Nischal Mewalall, said bank clients have lost money in this way due to social engineering tactics.

THE elderly are being targeted in the latest bank fraud scam.