Fraud is a pervasive crime targeting individuals and entities indiscriminately. Recently, there has been an increase in fraud committed against individuals by misusing their personal details to obtain credit (identity theft and fraud). Perpetrators typically open fraudulent clothing accounts, take cell phone contracts and obtain loans from micro-lenders using stolen personal details of consumers (employees). In extreme cases vehicles have been bought on high purchase agreements utilising stolen consumer details. A few Eskom employees have recently fallen victim to this crime. Their personal details were somehow disclosed to perpetrators who then conducted credit enquiries on the employees to check their credit worthiness and approached credit grantors to purchase goods using the employees’ personal details. Employees are therefore cautioned to always safeguard their personal information like identity numbers, mobile numbers, physical addresses etc. Documents like identity and travel documents, payslips, letters from credit grantors and banks, CV’s as well as credit application forms carry information that can be easily utilised by perpetrators to commit identity theft and fraud. Copies containing personal information should not be disposed-off in rubbish bins and should ideally be shredded. In addition to safeguarding personal information, employees are advised to also consider the following measures to mitigate risks of identity theft and fraud: Annually draw and review their credit reports for any credit enquiries unknown to them. In terms of the National Credit Act consumers are entitled to one free access to their credit report from either of the several credit bureaus in South Africa. Register with credit bureaus that offer notification services when a credit enquiry is conducted using one’s details. This will give you the consumer the capability to monitor any credit enquiry conducted on your name and immediately detect any threat of identity theft and fraud. Should one use an internet café to send and communicate on subjects that carry personal information, ensure that such is not saved on the server as that is a public platform and confidentiality cannot be guaranteed. If one’s identity has been compromised already, it is important that the matter be immediately reported to the South African Police Services. Further, the consumer (employee) can contact the South African fraud Prevention Services on 086 010 1248 to have the transaction recorded and one’s identity monitored/tracked to prevent further exposure. Some of the credit bureaus that can be contacted to obtain free annual credit report include Compuscan, Experian, XDS and TransUnion. Their contact details as well as those of other credit bureaus can be obtained on the internet. It is the responsibility of every consumer (employee) to safeguard their personal details in an undertaking to minimise their exposure to identity theft and fraud.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Jun 2013 12:23:58 +0000
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