Latest Scam alerts and News
Google Maps will help determine whether an address is real or just an empty lot. The information might not always be 100% perfect, but at least a review of a person’s provided information can assist in your review of whether or not the transaction may be suspect and require further investigation.
The Community Schemes Ombud Service (CSOS) is no longer functioning as an effective dispute resolution body. What was intended to be a low-cost, accessible remedy for ordinary members of residential communities has become a bureaucratic black hole. Complaints sit unresolved for months sometimes years while dysfunctional bodies, like rogue homeowners’ associations, continue unchecked. Communication is erratic, rulings are delayed or ignored, and there appears to be no meaningful enforcement of orders. For many South Africans, CSOS has become little more than a dead end, failing in its core mandate to uphold justice and protect the rights of scheme members.
Never give your personal health information, like your medical history or specific treatments you’ve received, to anyone who asks you for it.
Syndicates target medical schemes as well as medical scheme members and beneficiaries. They are usually very familiar with the different benefit structures and Schemes.
Signs to look out for that it is a “Get Rich Quick scam”
-
It claims to pay out double-digit returns.
-
It claims to be an opportunity of a lifetime.
-
You can’t understand how it generates money.
-
It is not a registered product, or a product offered by an authorised financial services provider.
-
Returns or profits earned are dependent on recruiting more members to the scheme.
-
If it sounds too good to be true, its most likely a scam.
-
Be sceptical of any investment’s insistence that you act NOW.
-
Be careful of investments that guarantee you high profits with little or no financial risk.
Insurers often use a playbook of tactics commonly summarized as Delay, Deny, Defend to minimize or deny valid claims.
Dragging their feet on responses or investigations to pressure you into a quick, low settlement or giving up entirely .
Repeatedly requesting unnecessary paperwork or transferring your case among adjusters
MODUS OPERANDI
The scam operates by an innocent recipient receiving an email or letter informing them that a supplier of theirs is changing their bank account details. The correspondence will almost certainly include the details of the new account. The letter/email will ask you to update your records accordingly with the consequence that future payments will be made to this account. The details are, of course, fraudulent with the consequence that monies are paid to the fraudster and not the supplier.
Please remember that electronic payments are made based on the account number only. Any account name given is not routinely checked as part of the automated payment process. It is your responsibility to ensure the account details being used are correct, by conducting an independent verification.