An Umkomaas man (39) was defrauded of cash after falling victim to a phone scamster.
The man received a call from what he believed to be a cell phone service provider agent alerting him of a sim swap.
“The man was asked security questions, which he answered,” said Umkomaas Saps communications officer, Captain Ismail Shaik.
He was told to dial *131X000016# to cancel the supposed sim swap, and was also asked for his phone password, which he provided.
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The call was received at 2pm and by 5pm, the man noticed that R1300 was missing from his bank account.
It was then discovered that his personal details had been used by the ‘agent’ to hack his phone.
Police urge the public to approach their cell phone providers directly should they receive such calls and should not provide personal information such as passwords without verifying whether the caller is legitimate.
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