FNB Namibia has cautioned the public to be vigilant of a new scam doing the rounds in which people who have recently lost a loved one are targeted by fraudsters who react to death notices or tombstone unveiling advertisements placed in local newspapers.
Victoria Muranda, Manager of Corporate Communications at FNB, explained: “People who have lost their loved ones would receive calls from a person introducing him/herself to be an employee of FNB. The person would advise that the deceased had a policy with FNB and that he/she is the beneficiary of the policy. The fraudster would then ask for banking details of the beneficiary and identity details purportedly for the deposit of the benefit. This is in actual fact just a trick and the person will call back after a while telling them that to expedite the claim, the customer needs to deposit a certain amount to a given account and or e-wallet, for funds to be cleared.”
Muranda cautions all customers to be vigilant and alert and to make sure that the caller is genuine by asking the name and department and then phoning the bank and asking for this person, rather than taking it at face value that the caller works for the bank.
Muranda further advises that neither the bank nor any other insurance company would ever call a claimant and never ask for a payment to clear funds.
She emphasized that neither the bank or any other insurance company would never ask for payment to be affected via e-wallet for any type of payment.
She advised customers always to insist on company account details, which can be verified with the bank for legitimacy. Muranda also warned customers never to make a payment to receive just dues such as insurance benefits and always to ask for an actual policy number and do a direct follow-up with the specific company involved.