You Can Bank on Fraud – So, Here’s What to Do When You Fall Victim

*Expletive expletive expletive*. Those are your first, and may we add very impressively colourful, words that you utter when you wake up to notifications from your bank regarding purchases that you definitely 100 percent didn’t make. You know, since they happened at 2am in the Titiwangsa Mountains. Ahh, what good times.

It’s the sudden unexpected panic for us. Then the rapid-fire heart rate without any thanks to the customary accompanying hit of coffee. It’s sort of like the feeling of running out into the dark where you know bad guys are, but without back up, and now, suddenly with an extensive overdraft too.

So, there you are, before even brushing your teeth, on hold with the fraud line at your bank, where an automated voice tells you how important you are and “did you know that you can also do all this via your banking app”? Yes, amorphous disembodied robot voice, so you say, but it means having to look at our bank balance and that’s just too depressing, so staying on hold in the hopes of talking to a real human it is.

Anyway, the good news is, when you eventually make it through to an actual person on the other end of the line things generally move pretty efficiently. The problem card will be blocked and fraud case request lodged. if your fraud amount is less than a certain threshold the bank will take it from there, open a case and get back to you – generally within 7 working days. What you eat until then, is really not their problem, sadly.

However, we’re here to break down how you attack the process when that fraud amount is above their threshold and they send you to the SAPS to open a case.

And look, if you are one of the vanishingly few that haven’t yet succumbed to a fraud case and its accompanying heart attack, we’re truly happy for you, but while we have your attention, you should probably bookmark this page because chances are you will fall victim at some point, we are all just far too permanently online for it not to be the case.

6 Steps to Opening a Case of Fraud:

1. Once the bank has reassured you that the questionable card has been blocked and given you a reference number for the call, they will ask you to open up a case with the SAPS. It’s okay to sigh.
2. Before you go to the SAPS stop by the bank (don’t you just love them today) and get a certified copy of your current statement (one from the ATM should also do) that highlights the fraudulent transactions. At this point it’s even okay to cry.
3. Take your statement to your local SAPS and provide them with a break down (emotional is understood but probably not recommended) of the fraudulent activity, so that they can open the case. You will also need a written and signed affidavit from them.
4. It is important to note that you should be opening this case at your local SAPS not your preferred one (if you are a frequent flyer and have such a thing). This is for crime mapping and things like that. Yes, even if the transaction came through at midnight from Kiev where you definitely were not, you still need to go to your closest station relative to where you were when the transaction took place.
5. If you go to another station for whatever reason (perhaps it’s closer to work etc.) then they will open the case for you and transfer it to your local station. So, you will wind up with 2 different case numbers. This is okay.
6. Send your case number(s) and affidavit through to your bank. Then wait patiently for them to hopefully return your funds.

Of course, the above is all reactive (what you do when the no good very bad things happen) but we wouldn’t be doing our due diligence if we didn’t also provide you with some proactive tips – so that you can try protect yourself before the proverbial *expletive* hits the fan. So, here you go: 

1. Making a purchase. Only enter your card details on a page that starts with HTTPS: that means it’s secure.
2. Don’t share your card details with anyone. Ever. Full stop.
3. Use e-Wallets and Apple or Google Pay when possible. It comes with its own secure encryption in the hardware and software of your phone.
4. When a card is expired and ready to be retired, go onto your banking app and make sure it is delinked. Then cut up the original. Keep an eye on what cards are active on your profile.  
5. Never give out passwords, pins or details over the phone, even if you think the caller is the bank. It almost never is. If your bank ever does call you – once you have picked yourself up off the floor – they will have all your details on hand already and actually need to prove themselves to you, and not the other way around, so apart from answering identity check questions there will be no further sharing of information needed, and definitely no pins, card details or account numbers.
6. Check the email address and phone numbers of any email or text requests that appear to be from the bank asking for information or for you to click something. We would be so bold as to suggest that about 100% of these are phishing scams – designed to steal your personal information and then your money.

And that’s that. Try not to think of the thieves lighting all the random candles they bought in Toronto, or hopping on the flight they booked in Texas. And definitely don’t obsess on the R10 000’s worth of sarongs purchased in Brazil. Let’s just focus on keeping you and your information safe going forward, so that the likelihood of it happening again diminishes. When you need assistance with things that are less financial and more grrr argh protection, call us, we’re here to assist In Case of Anything. But, we are here for you when it comes to providing the information and guidance that you need in many other scary situations too, which this whole article sort of probably proves.