UIF warns of possible scam targeting South African workers

The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) on Wednesday warned South Africans of a possible scam doing the rounds.

Here’s what you need to know.

UIF scam

The screenshot of the message (included below) is circulating on social media and claims the worker employed between 1990 and 2021 may receive claims from the Department of Employment and Labour.

As per the fraudulent message, some workers “have the right to receive the benefit of R30 000”. The message also includes a link to a untrusted website.

It’s likely a phishing scam and South Africans are urged to “disregard the message upon receipt”.

Recycled scam

The message resurfaced this week after initially causing havoc in January. The scam dates back to April 2021, when one Phumzile Majola shared the phishing link on Twitter.

In December 2022, scammers posed as UIF officials and charged South Africans a fee for expediting claims.

The fund said applying for UIF is a free service and will never require a payment from a client to fast-track the process.

Since the scams are mostly shared on social media platforms, it’s always prudent to compare any information received with the information available on the department’s official social media platforms, or website.

Stay safe from scams

According to email service provider, Mimecast, an estimated 255 million phishing attemps were made in 2022, which is an increase of 61% when compared to 2021.

Mimecast warned: “This tsunami of phishing attacks that threaten account compromise, data breaches and malware infection remain a critical threat to neutralise”.

The easiest way to safeguard against phishing attempts is the use of malware to weed out threats. Anti-malware software if programmed to spot even stealth attempts.

Using secure passwords and 2-Factor-Verification also goes a long way, as does refraining from clicking on untrusted links received via email, WhatsApp or social media.

It is vital to have unique passwords for each of your online accounts. While tedious, this will reduce the risk of being hacked when a website or service experiences a data breach.