Phishing
Fraudsters are continually trying to obtain internet banking and credit card details in so-called "phishing" attempts. No bank or credit card company should ever request any details via email and you should never click on any links within such emails. The fraudsters are extremely inventive and many bank accounts have been cleaned out rapidly! Note that banks are under no obligation to refund you should you become a victim unless, of course, you can prove that the bank is at fault.
Most banks provide detailed information on phishing and other fraud. A few links are provided below:
Beware of any emails that you are not expecting or from persons or organisations that you don't know. You can often detect a phishing attempt by the poor spelling and grammatical errors because many of these emails come from non-English-speaking countries. But note that the fraudsters are getting better at this all the time! If in any doubt, phone your bank's fraud or security department.
Email Hoaxes
Please note that there are numerous email hoaxes doing the rounds. Forwarding these untruths/hoaxes/urban legends is a total waste of time, as they only serve to increase junk mail on the internet, cause people to panic and fret unnecessarily, and generally annoy recipients. Remember also that many email systems are programmed to prevent such nonsense from being forwarded so they often won't even get through to the intended recipients. Some email systems also automatically report the senders to SPAM database systems which may prevent you from sending even genuine email in the future!
Recent examples of hoaxes/urban legends/untruths:
- An email claims that dialing #77 from your cell-phone will get you immediate police assistance. This email originates from the USA where the number does (or did) exist in some states, but there is no such number in South Africa. Read more.
- An email reports that tomato sauce containers at a food chain are
being infected with HIV-infected blood. This is nonsense. Read more.
- The claim that prospective gang members are initiated by killing the drivers of cars who flash their lights at them. This scare has been traced back to the early 1980's in regard to a Hell's Angels bike gang in California. It has even been used in a 1998 movie, "Urban Legend". Read more.
- An email warning recipients that criminals are using pool acid as a weapon to aid in the hijacking of vehicles. This is unsubstantiated. Although crimes of this nature are certainly possible and the specific
attack described in the message may have actually happened, there is no evidence to suggest that such attacks are a widespread or
common occurrence. Research reveals no credible news reports or police
warnings about such acid hijackings. Read more.
- Parking lot hijackers are placing flyers on rear windscreens of cars, and then taking the cars when the drivers get out of their cars to remove the flyers. This warning has been floating around since at least 2004 and not a single instance has been recorded. Read more.
There is a lot of information on the internet regarding hoaxes and urban legends. Please try to do some research or email us before forwarding these emails.