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Gerhard van Vuuren is one of many Fin24 users who fell victim to SIM swap fraudsters. He tell his story:
We had a similar experience where an illegal SIM swap was done on my wife’s phone. She received a call from a private number and the man said that he was phoning from Vodacom Group [JSE:VOD], and that Vodacom had accidentally done a SIM swap on her number.
She should ignore any messages on her phone as it is a mistake from Vodacom.
Later that morning we realised that she had no signal, but because it was not uncommon in our area we ignored the fact. Later that evening we saw that the phone displayed a message which implied that the card was out of service.
We immediately contacted Vodacom, who informed her that she had done a SIM swap earlier that day at around 11h00. She then informed them that she has not even been to Johannesburg, and that we live in the Bela Bela area.
Vodacom then blocked the number.
On Sunday morning she made contact with Absa Group [JSE:ASA] to inform them of the SIM swap. She was then told that R26 655 had been withdrawn from our accounts as a result of the SIM swap.
The case has been reported to the police. Absa has done their so-called investigation and has referred us to the ombudsman. They are not going to refund the money. Their excuse is that we could have given our log-on details out through replying to a scam email.
Everybody receives these emails daily and we do not open them because we know the dangers when doing so.
We have been with Absa for more than 30 years, and during this time millions have gone through our various accounts. We even have an investment with them.
Shame on them for not considering this fact.
As far as Vodacom is concerned, we feel that it is far too easy for anyone to do a SIM swap. The person basically walked into the shop, gave a copy of a false ID, and signed the prescribed form. Where did they get the ID number?
The person did not even use the correct surname or name on the false ID. This surely should have indicated to the person doing the SIM swap that something is not right.
As far as we are concerned, one always has to present an original copy of your ID and have an original proof of residence.
I am sorry but I think these institutions should start looking at their staff and start taking responsibility for poor security systems. In the end everybody pulls up their shoulders and the fraudsters keep on having a field day.
I do hope you can give them all the exposure they don’t need.
- Fin24
We had a similar experience where an illegal SIM swap was done on my wife’s phone. She received a call from a private number and the man said that he was phoning from Vodacom Group [JSE:VOD], and that Vodacom had accidentally done a SIM swap on her number.
She should ignore any messages on her phone as it is a mistake from Vodacom.
Later that morning we realised that she had no signal, but because it was not uncommon in our area we ignored the fact. Later that evening we saw that the phone displayed a message which implied that the card was out of service.
We immediately contacted Vodacom, who informed her that she had done a SIM swap earlier that day at around 11h00. She then informed them that she has not even been to Johannesburg, and that we live in the Bela Bela area.
Vodacom then blocked the number.
On Sunday morning she made contact with Absa Group [JSE:ASA] to inform them of the SIM swap. She was then told that R26 655 had been withdrawn from our accounts as a result of the SIM swap.
The case has been reported to the police. Absa has done their so-called investigation and has referred us to the ombudsman. They are not going to refund the money. Their excuse is that we could have given our log-on details out through replying to a scam email.
Everybody receives these emails daily and we do not open them because we know the dangers when doing so.
We have been with Absa for more than 30 years, and during this time millions have gone through our various accounts. We even have an investment with them.
Shame on them for not considering this fact.
As far as Vodacom is concerned, we feel that it is far too easy for anyone to do a SIM swap. The person basically walked into the shop, gave a copy of a false ID, and signed the prescribed form. Where did they get the ID number?
The person did not even use the correct surname or name on the false ID. This surely should have indicated to the person doing the SIM swap that something is not right.
As far as we are concerned, one always has to present an original copy of your ID and have an original proof of residence.
I am sorry but I think these institutions should start looking at their staff and start taking responsibility for poor security systems. In the end everybody pulls up their shoulders and the fraudsters keep on having a field day.
I do hope you can give them all the exposure they don’t need.
- Fin24
