Secunda Police are concerned about the increase of fraud and theft cases reported at Secunda Police Station for investigation.
This came after numerous incidents where victims were defrauded of amounts between R11 000 and R13 000.
The perpetrators will allegedly offer the victims free SIM cards from Vodacom, MTN or Cell C and ask them to do a SIM swap.
Another modus operandi is that victims will receive an SMS, email or a telephone call from a bank official informing them of possible illicit transactions.
This so-called official will then request that the victim confirm personal banking details, after which the victim will receive a notification about money being withdrawn from their accounts. Do not respond to these calls, rather end the call, by saying that you will visit your branch.
Another modus operandi is where an ATM would struggle to take the victim’s card, after which a person would offer assistance. This assistance would result in the swopping of the victim’s bank card.
Withdrawals and purchases would then be made with these stolen cards.
The commander of Secunda Police Station, Col Herold Mashile, said in a statement that the community must not fall prey to such incidents.
Police encourage the community, more especially when using internet banking to:
– Memorise the PIN and password, and do not write them down or share them with anyone including the bank official.
– Make sure that your PIN and password cannot be seen when entering them during ATM transactions.
– Change the PIN or password immediately once you think that the password or PIN has been compromised.
– Register for the bank’s cellphone notification service and receive electronic messages relating to activities.
– Inform the bank should your cellphone number change so that the cellphone notification contact number can be updated on its systems.
– Notify the bank if reception on your phone is lost. Check what the problem could be as you could have been a victim of SIM swap on your number.
The following precautionary measures can be followed to prevent internet fraud:
– Never do internet banking in public areas such as internet cafés. You never know what software is loaded that may compromise your transactions.
– Make sure that no one has unauthorised access to your PC.
– Be aware that that there are no security cameras trained on your PC and keyboard.
– Make sure that the software loaded onto your PC is correctly licensed.
– Update your operating system and browser with the latest patches.
– prevent harmful software such as viruses, Spyware and Trojans from infecting your PC by having the latest anti-virus applications loaded on your PC which most banks provide this free of charge to their customers.
– Remember to log off immediately when you have finished with your internet banking transaction on your PC.
In some fraud cases, victims will see items for sale on the internet or social media and they will contact the seller who will convince them to make a deposit or full payment for the item to be delivered.
After the deposit or transferring the money, the perpetrators will disappear, making it difficult for the victims to further communicate with them.
Col Mashile further warns the community not to make any payment to anyone who has advertised an item or product including a motor vehicle on social media or the internet.
The only time one can make a payment is after seeing or meeting with the person and is satisfied with the condition of the item or product. Furthermore, if one needs to buy a car, he/she must visit the nearest car dealership.
The police also encourage the community to report any form of crime or suspected criminal activities by calling the crime stop number 08600 10111.
Alternatively, the public can send information via MYSAPSAPP.
All received information will be treated as confidential and callers may opt to remain anonymous.
