Telkom South Africa customers have been warned to take extra caution not to become victims of fraud by criminals pretending to be company representatives..
“They deposit a stolen or counterfeit cheque into a customer’s account and then on a false Telkom letterhead, inform the customer that Telkom had erroneously deposited the cheque into the customer’s account as reimbursement for overpayment collected on their telephone account. This letter is usually delivered to the customer by hand or via email,” says Thokozani Mvelase, Telkom group executive for Enterprise Risk Management in a statement.
Mvelase added that the customer is then requested to transfer the amount into a bank account that is alleged to be under Telkom’s name.
The deal usually happens before the cheque is cleared by the bank. The customer’s account would be fraudulently debited with the cheque amount while the initial cheque deposit is declined by the bank. By this time the fraudsters would have withdrawn the cash from the “Telkom” account thus leaving the customer out of pocket for the value of the initial cheque deposit amount.
This is what Telkom advices should they recieve a “Telkom”/unknown cheque deposit in their bank accounts:
Phone the nearest Telkom Customer Service Branch and confirm whether there was indeed a cheque issued in lieu of an overpayment;
Ask for a show of a Telkom ID card, from a person delivering the letter if it is delivered in person. If one is shown, please record card details;
Attempt to record the type, make and registration number of the vehicle that the person delivering the letter arrives in; and
Inform Telkom’s hotline at 0800 124 000.