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Imposter scam resurfaces- FNB warns against e-wallet scam

Imposter scam resurfaces- FNB warns against e-wallet scam

FNB Namibia warned against the so-called ‘imposter scam’ which has resulted in clients losing money from their accounts through bogus e-wallet payments.

Ingrid Kahona-Katjiukua from the Banks’ Forensics department said that this is not a new scam, but every now and then it resurfaces because customers still fall prey to it.

The scam works as follows: The fraudster calls people at random and poses as a FNB employee enquiring about funds that need to be released for various reasons. Dividends, policy pay-outs, or rewards for long standing customers have been used as ruses in the past.

According to Kahona-Katjiukua, the call, in most cases, is placed to a landline and the customer is then requested to enter a code on their cellphone for release of funds. This code is normally the cellphone banking string; *140*392# or *140*321# followed by what the fraudster then names as a verification code but is in fact the amount the customer is about to transfer to the fraudster – e.g. 4994 ultimately sending N$4,994.

“We urge customers to remain vigilant at all times – calls such these are not from FNB Namibia. The bank will never call a customer or a member of the public to release funds for dividends, policy pay-outs or for any form of receiving or sending money. We also do not require any ‘codes’ from a customer to release funds. Keep in mind that we will also never ask you to go through any steps on your cellphone,” Kahona-Katjiukua added.


 

About The Author

Donald Matthys

Donald Matthys has been part of the media fraternity since 2015. He has been working at the Namibia Economist for the past three years mainly covering business, tourism and agriculture. Donald occasionally refers to himself as a theatre maker and has staged two theatre plays so far. Follow him on twitter at @zuleitmatthys