Recently retired mineworker Tsietsi Mokgapa lost R150,750 in three days from eight fraudulent transactions in his bank account just more than a month after receiving his pension payout.
The fraudsters used his account to buy items from online shops, including purchases from Takealot, deliveries from Checkers Sixty60 and R5,000 worth of tickets from Computicket while Mokgapa was in Lesotho visiting his family to plan for his retirement.
The alleged fraudulent purchases are now the subject of investigation by the National Financial Ombud Scheme (NFO) after Standard Bank rejected Mokgapa's claim for reimbursement. The bank claims OTPs were sent to Mokgapa's registered cell number which legitimised the purchases. However, Mokgapa said he could not use his South African SIM card while in Lesotho.
The 59-year-old said the bank had given him a document which showed a SIM swap was performed on his number four days before the transactions were made.
Mokgapa had worked for 27 years at Mponeng mine in Carletonville as an operator before he retired last year. His employer paid him R800,000 in January.
He opened two investment accounts at the bank's Ladybrand branch for R400,000 and R200,000.
He was left with R200,000 in his account which he had planned to use for his family needs, including the education of his two children and to build rental rooms in his house in Lesotho.
“The bank lady assisting me told me I need to get a bank app to transact. I told her I don't understand how the app works and she tried to download it onto my phone but could not. The next day I returned with my wife and they downloaded the app and I kept the pin,” he said.
The bank lady assisting me told me I need to get a bank app to transact. I told her I don't understand how the app works and she tried to download it in my phone but could not.
— Tsietsi Mokgapa
On February 18 he and his wife went to Lesotho but two days after their departure someone performed an unauthorised SIM swap on his number. Five days later, a Takealot transaction worth R30,004 was made from his account. On the same day, three more online transactions were processed, totalling R86,997, one of which included a Computicket purchase.
“I don't even know what Takealot is,” he told Sowetan.
The next day another R30,000 Takealot purchase was made, followed by a Debonairs Pizza purchase for R170.39 and two Checkers Sixty60 transactions totalling R3,501.31.
He came back to South Africa to inquire from the bank on March 5, according to his passport stamps.
He said his South African SIM card was always in his phone.
“When I came to South Africa my SIM card was no longer working.
“I went to the same teller who upon arrival acted as if she knew nothing about me. After I told one of her colleagues about everything, giving him the dates and times I visited the bank, the same teller gave me a written piece of paper and told me I should take it to the police.
“The police sent me back to the bank as they could not understand [it],” he said.
A case was only registered after he involved a family member who also helped him lodge a formal complaint with the bank and the NFO.
Free State police spokesperson W/O Mmako Mophiring confirmed to Sowetan a case of fraud had been registered.
“The complainant's money was transacted at an ATM through large transfer amounts. The matter is still under investigation and no suspect has been arrested yet,” he said.
Standard Bank spokesperson Ross Linstrom said their investigation confirmed the transactions were card-not-present purchases, which require the card number, expiry date and CVV, with OTP verification.
“These transactions were authenticated via messages sent to the client’s mobile phone. This suggests the client’s card details were compromised and the purchase was confirmed using OTP sent to the client. The transactions were conducted online,” said Linstrom.
He urged clients to be vigilant and never share sensitive banking information such as PINs, card numbers, expiry dates and CVV numbers with anyone.
Johan Brouwer, the NFO's manager of adjudication in the banking division, also confirmed they had received Mokgapa's complaint.
“We are awaiting a formal response to the complaint from the bank involved whereafter the case will be allocated to an adjudicator for investigation. The complainant will be notified once the formal response has been received and provided with the contact details of the adjudicator who will handle his case,” he said.
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