Don’t Get Caught Via Phishing

Phishing attacks are one of the most common forms of online fraud. Typically, they appear in the form of emails or text messages that appear to be from legitimate sources, such as your bank or a big company. They often ask for personal information, such as passwords or credit card numbers. To protect yourself, be extremely cautious of any unsolicited communication asking for sensitive information. When in doubt, rather take the time to verify the source, be it your bank or the post office, using the contact details listed on their official websites – NOT the information provided by the potentially malicious communication.

Seller Beware!

Heard about the disappearing money act? This involves being contacted by a scammer who’d like to purchase something you’re selling online. For whatever reason, they don’t have the cash and would like to pay for it via an online bank transfer – but it’s bogus. Their scam involves depositing a cheque so that the money appears in your account but at a pending status. Later, the scammer cancels the transaction and the money vanishes along with your goods. To protect yourself, insist on payment in cash or only release the item you’re selling once you’ve confirmed with your bank that the money isn’t just in your account but has officially cleared.  

If It Sounds Too Good To Be True…

Want to sign up for a free course and learn how to turn a few hundred rand into millions? If it sounds too easy, chances are it’s a scam. Always be wary of any online investment opportunities promising high returns with little or no risk. Be very cautious of unsolicited investment offers, especially those that pressure you to invest quickly without providing adequate documentation or information. The same goes for shopping. If you’re being offered an air fryer for under R100, it might never arrive or, worse yet, the scammer could use your credit card information to go on a shopping spree.

Be Careful With What You Share Online

Many of us enjoy sharing our lives online, but you never know who’s watching. Innocently posting a picture of your plane boarding pass or, worse yet, your new ID card – regardless of how great you look in the picture can leave you wide open to identity theft. Personal information, such as your full name, date of birth, address, and identification numbers, can be very valuable to cybercriminals. Only provide this type of sensitive information to trusted sources when necessary and make a point of checking your credit record once a year to ensure unknown accounts or credit facilities haven’t been opened in your name.

“Hi Beautiful!” OR Expensive Lies

This con starts with a communication from a stranger looking for a friend but things can take a romantic turn pretty fast. This con artist usually has a fascinating job, and has amassed a large amount of wealth – but has a problem accessing it so they need your help to send them just a little bit of cash to help them unravel the red tape so they can free it up and share it with you. The next thing you know, you’ll be required to send an increasing amount of cash and your new friend – a scammer – who’s laughing all the way to his bank. To protect yourself, do not even reply out of curiosity and remember, these scammers have a surprisingly high success rate with older people who may be naïve and lonely, so make a point of talking to your elderly relatives to make them aware of the potential danger that lives online.

The Inheritance Hoax

It's not impossible that your great aunt has passed away and left you a sum of money. In this case, you might be contacted by a tracing agency to be notified of your inheritance or any benefit due. However, it’s very easy for scammers to impersonate tracing agents and financial institutions in an effort to their hands on your ID number or bank account details. This is why it’s important to never reveal any sensitive information unless you’ve verified the source via the contact details on their official platforms, NOT the SMS. For the record, MiWayLife will never alert your beneficiaries of something as important as a payout via SMS – a decision letter will be sent via email. In addition, no legitimate tracing agency will request your banking details until all the proper checks have been made.