Nedbank and Standard Bank send warning to customers
South Africa is seeing a rise in impersonation fraud, with Nedbank and Standard Bank warning customers not to trust caller ID.
Impersonation scams are rife in South Africa, where scammers pretend to be officials from trusted sources to acquire personal information.
This can be done with fraudulent emails, WhatsApp messages, and phone calls, where criminals use social engineering tactics and manipulation to get customers to share their personal information.
The process is made worse by “spoofing”, a tactic where criminals impersonate trusted entities by manipulating caller ID or email addresses to appear legitimate.
Nedbank has again highlighted the crisis in a message to clients, noting that fraudsters are now posing as Nedbank’s fraud department.
The criminals claim a suspicious debit order or a significant transaction on one’s account.
Fraudsters make themselves seem more legitimate by registering their numbers as “Nedbank Investigations“.
They will then ask a customer to change their Nedbank ID username and password to the one they provide or share these details to reverse the transaction.
They may also ask customers to accept an Approve-it message or share an OTP with them.
To keep safe, Nedbank customers should never share their Nedbank ID username and password with anyone, as Nedbank’s staff would never ask you to change your details.
Customers should also carefully read approve-it messages before they accept them, and they should also never share their OTP.
If the bank calls about a transaction, a customer should simply say ‘Yes. It’s mine,’ or ‘No. it’s not mine.’ They should never share any secret information.
The Nedbank warning comes shortly after Standard Bank issued a similar warning, which noted a rise in fraudsters using AI-generated voices and emails to impersonate bank officials.
Standard Bank said that the caller mimics the tone of a genuine bank interaction, often including standard security questions and disclaimers.
Scammers often reference personal details such as birth dates, addresses, or account types. The information might seem harmless, but is used to create credibility.
The caller will then claim to be calling about a service offering or to validate detected suspicious activity on the customer’s banking profile, such as unauthorised changes to contact details.
When victims panic, criminals offer fake solutions such as asking customers to transfer funds to a “safe” account, scan a QR code, click a link or share sensitive information like OTPS or instant money voucher codes.
Not just banks
Although impersonation fraud is common in the financial services industry, the City of Cape Town has also warned residents about scammers posing as city officials.
The city said that a recent case in the Helderberg was reported to the town, where a resident received a WhatsApp message followed by phone calls, falsely stating that their electricity would be disconnected due to municipal account arrears.
The scammers then requested immediate payment into a bank account or via e-Wallet to avoid service disconnection. Luckily, the resident recognised the scam attempt and reported it.
‘The City is investigating this matter and appeals to all residents to remain alert and report any suspicious encounters,” said MMC for Energy, Xanthea Limberg.
“We remind residents that the city does not notify residents of service disconnections via WhatsApp or any other social media platform, and no City official may request payment via e-Wallet or personal bank accounts.”
She added that all payments to the city must be made via the official city channels, such as visiting a municipal cash office or by making electronic payments using the details on the monthly municipal bill.
“We ask residents to inform their family and friends, especially the elderly, so that they are aware of scammers,” said Limberg.
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