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Tom Muleya Fraud Insight
Cases involving bogus street money changers disappearing into thin air with victims’ banking cards, only to later cash out on their money are a cause of concern.
People are losing their money in broad daylight to these fraudsters. The use of illegal or unconventional places to convert local currency to US dollars is resulting in many people losing to these con artists.
These fraudsters prey on their victims each time there is a perceived increase in the demand for the US dollar.
Fraud is a very big criminal enterprise with varied perpetrators. Some fraud researchers have stated that at least once in a life one will suffer or become a victim of fraud.
According to this assumption, if there were 12 million people in Zimbabwe, it means each person that makes up that number will be a victim. What is interesting is that even fraudsters at one point in their life, they fall victim to other fraudsters.
Now let’s look at how these bogus forex dealers are duping their targets. X had $100 000 in his account and intended to convert it to US dollars. X, approached Z who purported to be a genuine money changer in the street. Z, a fraudster advised X that he had the forex but he needed to do a swipe transaction first with X’s card for the equivalent amount.
Z then promised X that once the swipe goes through, he will then pay the equivalent US dollar. Z then took X along to a supermarket for a purported swipe transaction. Z asked X to give him the bank card and PIN.
Armed with victim’s bank card and pin, while at the shop, Z disappeared into thin air. After the disappearance of Z, victim X later realised that all the money had been swiped elsewhere.
The bulk of victims of these scams are civil servants and local authority employees. Some pensioners are also losing their life time savings through this way.
This then means that the level of responsibility and security alertness in the way we handle money should increase.
In order to prevent pension identity fraud or minimise chances of falling victim to identity fraud, a pensioner or pension beneficiary may among many other ways do the following;
- Think about the security of your money first before you decide to buy US dollars.
- Use legal and registered forex dealers to convert your Zimdollars into US dollars.
- Always keep your bank card and PIN secure, do not give them to a stranger. If ever you fail to overcome the temptation, and decide to deal with a street forex vendor, make sure you do the swipe yourself because you can not differentiate between a fraudster and a genuine money changer. Also ensure you are not given fake notes.
- Be careful as any disclosure of bank particulars to a stranger may lead to your card being cloned.
- Whenever you lose your bank card to a fraudster, quickly make a report to the police and advise your Bank through its hot lines to block the account.
For your feedback, WhatsApp line: 0772 764 043, or e-mail:[email protected]. Tom Muleya is a Detective Assistant Inspector working under the Criminal Investigations Department. Harare. He is also a member of the National Cyber Security Taskforce, Zimbabwe.
Online Reporter