Criminals are targeting unsuspecting Telkom customers with the aim of either defrauding them or acquiring their personal details or internet usernames and passwords under false pretexts.
“The latest modus operandi that fraudsters are using to target our customers and the public at large involves a phishing scam via e-mail,” cautions Thokozani Mvelase, Telkom’s group executive for enterprise risk management.
“These illegal activities have been going on for quite some time. After warning the public about them previously, we noticed a significant drop in Telkom customers being targeted. However, some of these activities seem to be on the rise again and we hope that the public will be extremely vigilant about any attempts to defraud them,” he said.
The fraudulent e-mail that has been doing rounds notifies Telkom customers that they must send their Telkom bills of the last three months back. The e-mail states that there has been a mistake with overcharging some of their clients. The fraudulent e-mail is signed by Jabulane Mabuza and the e-mail address is account.department@telkom.co.za.
Mvelase said that their investigation has revealed that the said e-mail address used by the hoaxer is linked to a private Gmail e-mail account that does not belong to Telkom. He said the company will investigate further to locate the actual source of these fraudulent e-mails.
Mvelase urges the public to be extremely vigilant if they receive any similar e-mail, especially if it is followed by phone calls requesting banking details for refund purposes.
“Telkom does not conduct its business this way. We would never ask customers to send us their statements – we have that already. Also, reimbursements are not credited into our customers’ bank accounts. In the event of a credit, Telkom passes it on to the customers’ telephone account for the next month,” he said.
He added that internet users should always be mindful of a wide array of phishing scams. Phishing is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and banking and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.
Mvelase said that customers should be suspicious if they receive unsolicited calls or e-mails.
“Remember, usernames and passwords are unique and must be kept confidential at all times. Otherwise, you run the risk of bandwidth theft or outside parties accessing your e-mails. This becomes extremely serious if access to your mailing system is abused for fraudulent or criminal ends.”
Enquiries: If any member of the public is suspicious or unsure whether requests are legitimate or not, they are urged to contact Telkom’s fraud hotline on 0800-124-000 or their nearest police station.
