Increase of scams during silly season
Six common scams criminals trust as most effective.
JOHANNESBURG – Here are the most common scams that criminals tend to focus on during the festive season according to Head of Business Crime and Forensics at Werkmans, Bernard Hotz as analysed on Primedia.
* Credit card scams. Consumers should be careful where they use their credit cards. Do not allow anyone to take your credit card away to a point where you cannot see what they’re doing with it.
* Identity theft. Criminals could use your personal information to run up mountains of debt without your knowledge using fraudulent credit cards. Be careful with your identity document and passport.
* Call centre scams. People claiming to be from bank call centres calling consumers requesting personal banking information are more often than not fraudsters posing as call centre agents. Don’t fall victim to them.
* Holiday booking websites. Be careful when booking holidays online; make sure that the website is a bona fide site. Teenagers who want to go abroad should be weary of offers too good to be true, there is no such thing as a free holiday.
* Discarding of bills. Never throw away your bills with personal information. Always shred the documentation into pieces as there are people hired by scamsters to scour bins looking for your personal information divulged in your bills.
* Banking apps. Be careful not to leave your phone unattended if you have active banking apps on it. Anyone with access to your phone could go into the apps and make transfers that you haven’t agreed to.
To our readers, we urge you to be vigilant with not only your personal information and possessions, but also be careful with whom you allow to be around you.
