FNB loan fraud leaves Pretoria woman R14,000 in the red

When she received a text message from First National Bank (FNB) congratulating her on a R2,200 short term loan, Letty Skosana was shocked as she had never applied for any loan from the bank.

The Pretoria mother rushed to her branch where more bad news awaited her, as she discovered that two more loans – a R4,800 (short term loan) and R7,000 (personal loan) – had been approved and paid into her account.

A total of R14,000 was paid out for the three loans approved on the same day, and were then transferred into a Tyme Bank account immediately after they were released into her account.

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The applications for the loans were done and approved on 26 September, with Skosana receiving the congratulatory text message the following day, which was coincidentally the day on which she receives her salary.

When her salary was paid into her account, the bank deducted repayments, plus interest, for the two short term loans.

The bank is also expected to start deducting monthly repayments for the R7,000 personal loan this month.

Puzzling transactions

“All the transactions were completed on the banking app and during that time, I had no access to my app as my phone is dead. Also, to complete these transactions, I would have been required to upload certain documents like my salary slip,” Skosana said.

She said it was also puzzling how the bank approved three loans against her name in one day, despite her credit score being too low for her to qualify for said loans in the first place.

According to the National Credit Act, lenders have to assess your ability to repay your debt before granting a loan or credit, including checking your credit score, employment, income, and expenses.

Skosana said the bank seemed not to care as she had reported the matter immediately after receiving the text message, since they never even bother to contact her.

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Only on Thursday, after The Citizen had made inquiries on the matter, she received an urgent call from an agent telling her that the transactions were allegedly made from her device.

“They just want to pin the blame on me, but they are unable to explain how this was possible when my iPhone, on which I use the app, had been dead since the beginning of September. The device had been with me all the time and could only be unlocked with my fingerprint,” she said.

What FNB says

Tsietsi Mahlasela, FNB spokesperson confirmed receipt of a fraud complaint from Skosana after funds from loan applications were disbursed into her account.

He said FNB took all allegations of fraud seriously and in contact with Skosana about their complaint.

“In line with our efforts to protect our customers, we have introduced Money Protect, a free insurance cover for certain fraud-related losses when using interfaces like the FNB App. We will be assisting [Skosana] with a claim through our Money Protect insurance solution to alleviate the impact of any potential financial losses from this incident,” Mahlasela said.

He said FNB maintained a zero tolerance for criminality and encouraged any customer who has been a victim of fraud to file a criminal complaint with the police.

Mahlasela added that: “Furthermore, we recommend that customers use a unique password for their banking app and not store the password in the cloud or on their device. Should a customer no longer be in possession of their device, they must delink the banking app immediately using online banking or contact us for any further assistance”

But the bank is yet to explain how the three loans were approved on Skosana’s name without her ever applying or even qualifying for the loans due to her bad credit or affordability assessment.

Banking fraud on the rise

In January, the Office of the Ombudsman Banking Services (OBS) warned of a new wave of fraud targeting bank customers, with fraud or losses complaints exceeding R295 million in 2021 alone.

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According to the OBS’ 2021 records, the Ombudsman received and investigated over 2,880 banking fraud related cases – a significant increase of 7.5% compared to the previous year.

Most of these matters were due to bank customers falling victim to internet banking fraud, credit card fraud, current account fraud, and (Auto Teller Machine (ATM) card swap scams.

The Ombudsman lamented that it was unfortunate that, in most of these matters, the amounts that were claimed were not recovered as they had already been withdrawn by the fraudsters.