Sassa scam: Pensioners targetted by ‘fake employees’

The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) issued a warning to beneficiaries of the pensioner’s grant about scammers operating in Mpumalanga.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Sassa said it received “a lot of complaints from elderly people at pay points who complained of deductions in their grants”.

Sassa scams: What you need to know

Unauthorised deductions

The beneficiaries claimed they didn’t authorise or permit any deductions, however, an investigation tracked the deductions to scammers pretending to be Sassa employees.

Sassa said the scammers – who are “in sheepskin while they have wolves’ tendencies” – would get pensioners to “unsuspectingly join their policies without their knowledge”.

Sassa said its employees do not conduct home- or door-to-door visits, a precaution implemented early in 2020 due to the Covid-9 pandemic.

How to report scams

Any person purporting to be a Sassa employee is a fraud. Beneficiaries are urged to report any similar incidents to the nearest police station or Sassa office.

When approached by someone claiming to be a Sassa employee, pensioners and other beneficiaries should refuse to cooperate.

Alternatively, beneficiaries may report it directly to the agency on 0800-601-011.

Sassa voucher scam

Earlier this month, Sassa warned of a food parcel voucher scam doing the rounds online after several beneficiaries were duped by posts on social media.

The posts reportedly contained a link for clients in KwaZulu-Natal to click on in order to register for the free food voucher.

However, the spokesperson for Sassa operations in the province, Sandy Godlwana, says the organisation will only communicate directly with clients, and not via links shared on social media.

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