With the festive season approaching, the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has urged all social grant beneficiaries to be vigilant and ensure that they don’t fall victim to fraudsters and criminals when collecting their November and December social grants.
“Frail pensioners, people living with disability and other grant types beneficiaries are being targeted by thugs and scammers during the festive season. Some of these criminals visit pay points, pretend to be SASSA officials and others pretend to be offering assistance at the automated teller machine (ATMs),” Mpumalanga SASSA spokesperson Senzeni Ngubeni said on Wednesday.
Ngubeni urged all beneficiaries to ensure that they keep their Personal Identification Number (PIN) code or payment cards secured and secret to everyone suspicious, including relatives, children or micro loan companies “because they can then withdraw their money without the beneficiary’s consent”.
“If the beneficiaries suspect that the pin code has been exposed to the wrong person, they have a right to change it at the South African Post Offices or private banks. If beneficiaries encounter any challenges that the money has been withdrawn, they must ask for the statement at the Post Office or bank to see the transactions – where and when the money was withdrawn,” Ngubeni said.
She said this will make the process easy to lodge a complaint of illegal withdrawal and open a criminal case at the nearest police station.
Beneficiaries must remember the following:
- After collecting the money at the pay point, ATM and merchants must put it at a safe place and ensure that no one is noticing him or her;
- Do not allow any strangers to assist you carrying your bags or withdrawing money at the ATM; and
- Do not use your card as security to get a loan from a money lender.
For more information, contact SASSA toll free number 0800 60 10 11 from 08am – 4pm during the week.
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