Marco X is one of many Fin24 users who fell victim to SIM swap fraudsters. He wrote his letter on Tuesday, in the bank where his mother-in-law was trying to determine how fraudsters got access to her bank account. He says:
My mother-in-law has just found out her balance is R0 in her Absa Group [JSE:ASA] account.
She tried logging onto internet banking to do all her banking and was unable to receive her online PIN, (she wasn’t receiving any SMSs or calls).
She tried calling us to help her out (she does not understand technology very well). A SIM swap was done on her cellphone number and even her passwords with Absa were changed. She could not get hold of us and vica versa. Her bank account has been wiped clean.
The total amount was in excess of R50 000. She is at Absa as we speak trying to get this sorted.
Do the banks not have proper security measures in place? And MTN Group [JSE:MTN] is also to blame because who the hell let someone do a SIM swap on her name?
Absa meanwhile said it is not their fault and we should speak to MTN because they honoured the SIM swap. They had my mother-in-law fill in a form and that’s the attitude we got from Absa.
*Marco's letter was in response to a report that Media24 CEO Esmaré Weideman lost R360 000 over the weekend in what appears to be a hit from a SIM swap syndicate.
- Fin24
Have you been scammed? Share your experience and you could get published.
Do the banks not have proper security measures in place? And MTN Group [JSE:MTN] is also to blame because who the hell let someone do a SIM swap on her name?
Absa meanwhile said it is not their fault and we should speak to MTN because they honoured the SIM swap. They had my mother-in-law fill in a form and that’s the attitude we got from Absa.
*Marco's letter was in response to a report that Media24 CEO Esmaré Weideman lost R360 000 over the weekend in what appears to be a hit from a SIM swap syndicate.
- Fin24
Have you been scammed? Share your experience and you could get published.