Fraud alert! How to protect yourself against common scams

Scammers use a wide range of tactics for financial gain. As technology advances, they continuously adapt their techniques to catch people out. If you’re shopping, banking, selling something online or even swiping right hoping to find your perfect match – you’re at risk of falling victim to a scam. The fraud landscape has steadily increased over the past five years and according to the Southern African Fraud Prevention Service (SAFPS), South Africans are increasingly becoming easy targets.

While the financial and retail sectors are fraud hotspots, the SAFPS points out that money-muling is still one of South Africa's most significant challenges. This is followed by forged documents, impersonation fraud and employee application fraud. Let’s take a closer look at what each one of these means.

Money-muling

According to the SAFPS, one of the most common forms of money muling is when a victim is approached by someone claiming that they need to receive money from a family member in another country and they need a bank account to perform this transaction.

Many people want to help and willingly let these fraudsters use their bank accounts.  While this may seem an innocent crime, research points out that money-muling funds criminal activities.

Impersonation fraud

An example of impersonation fraud is when criminals contact an unsuspecting vehicle owner and pose as an official representing a car manufacturer or insurer. They then convince the vehicle owner that their vehicle requires critically urgent safety recall work or some sort of vehicle inspection. 

Criminals go to great lengths to make their communication seem official and make arrangements to collect the vehicle. A couple of days later, the owner would typically phone their dealership or insurer for an update, only to discover that their vehicle has in fact been stolen.

Employee application fraud

Employee application fraud, also known as CV fraud, occurs when someone provides false information or misrepresents themselves on a CV. They forge documents to show they have specific qualifications for the job when in fact they don’t.

Safety Advice

To avoid falling victim to fraud, 1st for Women has some tips:

1.     Limit the amount of personal information you share on social media and telephonically. Criminals use this to build a detailed profile of their victims.

2.     Be vigilant and maintain a healthy sense of scepticism when talking to strangers. Make every effort to verify that they are indeed who they say they are, and that they are an employee of the company they claim to represent.

3.     Check with the dealership/insurer directly to verify that the recall/inspection is legitimate. Don’t trust contact details provided by the person who called you.

4.     If you’re selling a product online, screen potential buyers thoroughly – if you find anything suspicious about a seller’s profile or behaviour, avoid them.

5.     Never release goods to buyers before they have paid for it. If you accept an EFT, check with your bank that the correct amount of money has been deposited, and is secure, before releasing the goods.

6.     If you are buying something online, rule number 1 is that if a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is.  If possible, check the seller’s rating and feedback.

7.     Avoid meeting buyers or sellers at locations that seem unsafe.  Rather opt to meet in a public, busy space.

8.     It’s prudent to register for your bank’s cellphone notification service and receive electronic messages relating to activities or transactions on your accounts as and when they occur.

9.     Review your account statements on a timely basis; query disputed transactions with your bank immediately and monitor for small amounts being deducted from your account. 

10.  Verify all requests for personal information and only give it out when there is a legitimate reason to do so.

11.  Regularly verify whether the details received from cellphone notifications are correct and according to the recent activity on your account. Should any detail appear suspicious immediately make contact with your bank and report all log-on notifications that are unknown to you. 

12.  As an extra layer of protection, regardless of whether your identity has been compromised, register on the SAFPS database.  Registration is free and you’ll be issued with a number.  When you apply for credit or when you open an account, you may be required to quote this number. 

Follow these tips and remember to always trust your gut. After all, it’s better to be safe than sorry.