The South African Social Security Agency (“SASSA”) Friday, 4 June 2021 released a statement warning SASSA beneficiaries of a new scam targeting SASSA beneficiaries to defraud them of their social grants.
In the statement SASSA says the scammers claims to be SASSA employees who move around communities with skimming devices targeting to defraud beneficiaries of their social grants monies. The fraudsters approach beneficiaries and convince them to check if their social grant cards are still valid by swiping them through a device. By so doing the scammers are skimming the beneficiaries card for later cloning. This then gives the scammer time to load a beneficiary’s information onto a new card and withdraw all the money.
The scammers have been target beneficiaries who recently got paid in the Eastern Cape, North West and Kwa-Zulu Natal areas. SASSA CEO Totsie Memela advised beneficiaries to always keep their social grant payment card pins safe and to themselves.
SASSA also warns that beneficiaries that they should be alert and not cooperate with anybody who requests their cards in the street or at home for whatever reason. SASSA does not send its staff to peoples homes to temper with their cards. The public is requested to report these incidents immediately to the police or contact SASSA on 0800601011 or social media.
