Do you ever feel worn-down by the relentless fraud attempts? Given the pace of them, it would be understandable if you feel that eventually a scammer will catch you off-guard.

This Meerkat Alert is rather disconcerting as it indicates just how deeply corruption and fraud have infiltrated our South African institutions.

At the same time, there is a glimmer of hope because the way to avoid being caught out is a repeat of previous tips shared – so you already have the tools to keep con-artists at bay.

More about that down below…

What are we focused on for Meerkat 17?

This month our case study involves:

1. A client’s deceased estate,
2. ID theft (committed to impersonate the Executor), and
3. an attempt to access the investment funds that formed part of the estate.

And – there’s a happy ending!

This attempt was thwarted, thanks to the tight verification processes of the industry investment partner who contacted the service provider immediately after the fraudster emailed them.

Here’s the chain of events:

• A client passed away and a financial adviser was the nominated Estate Executor.
• The Deceased Estate was duly reported to the applicable Master’s Office.
• Letters of Executorship were issued and the winding-up process commenced.
• An industry investment partner received an email, purportedly from the Executor, requesting the payout of various investment funds referenced in the Estate paperwork.
• The industry investment partner called the appointed Executor for confirmation – and was told no such request for payout had been made.
• The paper trail they extracted from the fraudster over the next few days was very enlightening.

What was the first suspicion of fraud?

The initial contact with the industry investment partner quoted specific account numbers for the investments that were to be paid out. Unbeknown to the fraudster, those account numbers had been changed as a result of in-house system processes – so when the service provider saw correspondence quoting account numbers that were more than a year out of date, they smelled a rat.

What was concerning about the fraudster’s handiwork…

The breadth and quality of fraudulent credentials that the perpetrator produced was eye-opening.

All the counterfeit documents – ID document, Letters of Executorship, proof of address, and proof of bank account – were of such high quality that it took detailed examination by the document owners (with the absolute knowledge that an attempted fraud was in progress) to find the flaws.

Obviously, this is of deep concern, because without the “outdated” account as a heads-up, an administrator would treat this as a routine request and would not necessarily be examining the documents with such a fine-tooth comb.

Is there a silver lining?

The fact that the perpetrator was in possession of details more than a year out of date was very useful. It enabled the service provider to rule out the possibility of an email breach or staff integrity issue, because had that been the case, the correct account details would have been used.

How to avoid theft of your identity being used to defraud you?

Firstly, carry out telephonic confirmation of processes and bank account details.

If you need to pay/transfer money, whether for an investment or for any other reason, double-check the procedure and account number/-s telephonically via trusted phone numbers and individuals.

Secondly, safeguard yourself by transferring a small, nominal amount first, and asking your recipient for confirmation once they have received it.

When they have confirmed receipt, you can go ahead and transfer the remaining sum, using the same bank account details to do so.

Finally, when you share your ID document and recent proof of address for FICA or other verification purposes, take a photocopy and write across it “Copy for the sole purpose of …” and specify the reason for the copy.

This makes it harder for any fraudster to re-purpose such a document to steal your credentials for their own gain.