These are the most common scams in South Africa and how to avoid them.
Phishing occurs when fraudsters send an email, pretending to be from a trusted service provider or the bank, to trick you into to sharing your personal and banking information.
These emails often contain links that either take you to a fake website asking you to update or provide them with your personal information, or a fake online banking page, requesting you to update your banking details or enter your internet banking information. These links could be malicious and cause you to install malware on your phone and other devices. Fraudsters try to trick you into clicking on these links by saying that your ‘account will be blocked’ or that you need to ‘install new software to protect yourself’.
Look out for the following warning signs:
Tips to be safe:
Smishing is short for ‘SMS phishing’, and happens when fraudsters send an SMS, pretending to be from a trusted service provider or the bank, to get you to share your personal and banking information.
These SMSs often contain links that will either take you to a fake website, asking you to update and/or share your personal information - or a fake online banking login page, asking you to update your personal information and/or enter your Internet banking login details.
The links could also cause you to install malware, like a virus on your phone. Fraudsters try to trick you into clicking on the link by saying that your ‘account will be blocked’ or that you need to ‘install new software to protect yourself’.
A fraudster may also send an SMS, pretending to be from ‘Capitec’s Fraud Unit’ to inform you of ‘suspicious activity’ or ‘unauthorised debit orders’ on your account. The SMS may say that ‘Capitec’s Fraud Unit’ will call you, and it could also contain a number for you to call. Fraudsters do this to cause panic and to gain your trust.
Tips to be safe:
Vishing, also known as voice phishing, happens when fraudsters call you pretending to be from a trusted service provider or your bank. They aim to get you to share your personal and banking information over the phone or to approve or do a transaction that will result in you being scammed out of money.
Example one:
A fraudster calls you claiming to be from ‘Capitec’s Fraud Clearance Department’ to tell you there is a suspicious or unauthorised debit order(s) on your account. This call often happens in combination with a scam SMS informing you of unauthorised debit order(s) on your account.
To earn your trust, the fraudster may start the conversation by reminding you to never share any confidential banking information. Next, they may ask you to take action such as:
Example two:
A fraudster calls you claiming to be from ‘Capitec’s Fraud Clearance Department’ to tell you that suspicious activity was detected on your account.
Once the fraudster causes you to panic and gains your trust, they may use different tactics to scam you out of money, such as:
Tips to be safe:
A money mule is someone who allows another person to use their account to move illegal money through the banking system. Criminals take advantage of people’s good nature and vulnerability, or persuade them with money, to open a bank account in their name to be used by someone else. They also approach account holders with requests to use their accounts for one or more transactions, often in exchange for a small fee or reward.
Examples of how criminals trick people into becoming mules:
A criminal will approach an individual in a public space such as a mall, taxi rank or on the street, and ask them if they want to make money. The criminal will provide the individual with a cellhone and SIM Card and ask them to open a bank account in their name and receive a fee in return. Once the account’s open, the individual hands over the phone, bank card and PIN to the criminal and receives a small fee in exchange. The criminal now has full access to the bank account and will use the account to move illegal money, without the individual knowing that they are enabling this.
Other examples include:
Criminals post fake job adverts on employment sites. In the advert, individuals are offered a way to earn quick cash. When they learn more, it’s not really a job at all. Instead, the job is to receive a certain amount of money into their bank account. Then, they must transfer some of it to another account while keeping some of the money for themselves.
Remember: you could be charged and convicted of a crime if you helped a criminal, even if you did so unknowingly. This could lead to a prison sentence, and you could be banned from opening a bank account again.
If you get reported for having acted as a money mule, your name and ID number will be listed by the Southern African Fraud Prevention Service (SAFPS), which hosts a database of the names of people involved in various types of fraudulent behaviour. Being listed on the SAFPS database has severe consequences because it is shared with financial services providers.
Tips:
Fraudsters may use different tactics to get their hands on your personal information. Once they have enough information about you, they can take over your identity and use it to open retail or bank accounts or take up credit in your name.
Personal information includes your ID, passport, driver's licence, email, payslip, municipal bills, bank statements
Tips to be safe:
What to do if your identity documents have been lost or stolen, if you discover that your identity has been used to open a bank account or subscribe to a service, or take up a product without your consent:
Criminals use many tricks to try to get your card and/or information that is on the card to steal your money.
Common tricks include:
Tips to prevent card fraud:
When at the ATM or a retailer/merchant
When shopping online
Other tips
If your card and/or confidential card information/PIN have been compromised, stop your card immediately using any of the following channels:
Our banking app:
or
WhatsApp:
or
Online banking for business bank cards:
or
Call us:
Fraudsters have different ways to trick you at an ATM. They may shoulder surf, card swap, card skim, and trap cards inside ATMs to your personal card information, or your card. We want you to be safe when using an ATM, so look out for these tactics:
Common ATM fraud scams:
Card swapping:
Fraudsters may disturb you while you’re busy with a transaction at the ATM. They often work in groups to swap cards. One person may distract you while another does the card swapping. They will also ‘shoulder surf’ your PIN, which means that they stand close enough behind or around you to see you key in your PIN.
You then leave the ATM with someone else’s card. The fraudster will start to use your card immediately to try and get as much out of your account before you realise what happened.
Card skimming at ATM:
Fraudsters will put in a device that looks exactly like the slot you put your card into, called a skimming device into the ATM. These devices look exactly like the ATM and can be difficult to notice. The fake card reader will take data from the magnetic strip on your card, while your PIN can be seen with a small camera on the skimming device.
Card trapping (Lebanese loop):
Fraudsters use this tactic to trap your bank card inside the ATM by putting a thin layer of plastic into the card slot of the ATM. This layer of plastic keeps your card trapped inside for scammers to remove later. This means that you could use the ATM and receive your cash without any issues, but your card remains trapped. The fraudster is usually nearby and would’ve ‘shoulder surfed’ the PIN, to withdraw cash immediately using your once you leave.
Suspecting fraud at the ATM?
If you think that someone may have interfered while you were transacting at the ATM and that your card and PIN may have been compromised, stop your card immediately using any of the following channels:
Tips to be safe:
Scammers often create fake social media profiles to impersonate accounts of brands, celebrities, or people you know. They then befriend innocent people and send spam messages or links that lead to malicious websites. Scammers can create an endless number of fake profiles and ads, putting social media users at risk. Here are some common social media and marketplace scams:
Scammers impersonate the social media accounts of well-known brands such as banks or stores – or they create imposter accounts using someone else's name, photos, and other identifying information. They do this to ask for money, your personal information, or to offer you investment opportunities.
What to look out for:
Tips to avoid an impersonation scam:
Fake cryptocurrency and investment opportunities are among the biggest scams on social media. It starts when a scammer contacts you, usually by sending you a direct social media message. They’ll start off by trying to build a relationship but then quickly share information about a “great investment opportunity” that helped them “make so much money so fast.”
Warning signs of a social media investment scam:
Tips to avoid investment and cryptocurrency scams:
A fraudster will send the victim a friend request and start a conversation with them. Once they’ve built a relationship, they’ll ask for money.
Warning signs of a romance scam:
Tips to avoid romance scams:
Fraudsters create fake social media accounts to promote remote job opportunities, promising that you can make a lot of money. Scammers have two goals with a job scam:
Warning signs of a job scam:
Tips to avoid job scams:
Fraudsters will often market fake products on social media. These fake products are often priced at unbelievable prices.
Warning signs of a social media ad scam:
Tips to avoid fake product scams:
In this type of scam, fraudsters will send you a direct message on social media to say you've won a prize, and to receive it, you must first pay or provide financial information.
Warning signs of a giveaway scam:
Avoid getting scammed and don’t pay money to ‘claim your winnings’ - no credible competition will require you to pay money upfront.
Cyber criminals often use social media to gather personal information about potential targets, such as names, dates of birth, personal photos, and location, which they can use to commit identity theft in the future.
Tips to avoid compromising your personal information on social media:
Fraudsters use SIM card swapping and number porting to commit fraud. After they get enough of your personal information, they may approach your mobile network service provider pretending to be you. They may ask for a transfer of your cell phone number to a new SIM card, or that your number is ported to another service provider. They often present a stolen or fake identity document and can answer the security questions of the service provider as if they are you.
They may get your personal information by calling you and pretending to be a Capitec employee, to trick you into confirming your personal information. Or they may have sent you a phishing email or SMS.
Fraudsters may also try to swap out the physical SIM card in your mobile device during a face-to-face interaction.
The following are examples of how fraudsters perform SIM swap fraud.
Using a phishing email:
Performing physical SIM card swap:
Call your network service provider immediately on their official number when:
2 ways to know your SIM card has been swapped:
Note: Pay special attention if you lose network connectivity for longer than usual – don’t overlook this due to bad network connections during load-shedding. If you suspect SIM card fraud, tell your service provider to deactivate your number and notify your bank immediately.
