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.