5 Tips to Avoid Fraud This Festive Season

Close up happy African American woman with daughter using tablet together, lying on soft pillows near Christmas tree at home.

The approach to the festive season means time off for many of us. For fraudsters the holiday season is one of their busiest times of the year.

Please be extra vigilant. Spend a few more minutes double-checking an email or SMS link and make sure you don’t give your personal details over the phone. And use ourfraud prevention checklistto protect yourself and avoid fraud this festive season.

Here are some things to look out for this holiday season:

  1. Alerts about package delivery problems:most will be legit but if someone asks for your password you know it is a scam.
  2. Fake charity emails and phone calls:especially if you’re required to provide bank account information to make a large donation.
  3. Suspicious emails and websites from popular brands:these websites may look legit but check the links before you click to buy.
  4. Too good to be true deals:it is difficult to hover over a link on your mobile to check its authenticity – resist the urge to buy until you can verify the link source.

5 tips to avoid fraud:

  1. Turn on alerts from your bank or card issuer to inform you of spending on your card or account.
  2. Regularly check your account transactions to make sure all purchases are recognised.
  3. Set your online profileprivacysettings and payment details with trusted retailers and service providers.
  4. Use your card for big purchases instead of EFTs as cards have protection on purchases.
  5. Don’t give your card details to anyone over the phone – if you didn’t make the call yourself, it may not be legitimate.

Here are more ways you can protect your personal information:

  • Carefully checkDebiCheckMandates prior to authenticating and authorising the mandate.
  • Do not share your personal, banking orcredit cardinformation with people you don’t know or trust, and never give them access to your computer and mobile phone.
  • Check your bank andcreditcard statements every month for suspicious activity.
  • Before you throw out personal documents containing confidential or sensitive information, destroy them first by either shredding or ripping them up.
  • Beware of entering competitions online where you must providepersonal information such as your home address and bankdetails.
  • Activate privacy settings and two factor authentication on social media sites and be careful what you post online as information can be easily stored and archived, even if you delete it.
  • Never share your PIN codes you use for banking or to access your devices.

If yoususpect that your identity has been compromised, we recommend you contact South AfricanFraud PreventionService:

If yoususpect there has been fraud relating to your FASTA productplease emailfraud@fasta.co.zaimmediately.

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