The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has warned grant beneficiaries about people with sinister intentions who are already targeting them this festive season.
The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has warned grant beneficiaries about people with sinister intentions who are already targeting them this festive season.
Sassa issued a statement yesterday, Tuesday 15 November, about text messages that are being sent to beneficiaries urging them to obtain new cards.
It is said that social grant beneficiaries have been inundated with text messages urging them to obtain new cards which are green in colour before January 2017.
"Never has Sassa communicated with its beneficiaries through SMSs and beneficiaries are warned not to respond to any SMS that these imposters are sending to them.
"The festive season is upon us again and people with sinister intentions are already targeting beneficiaries with the intention of cheating them through all sorts of scams," read the statement.
Sassa advised all its beneficiaries not to fall for this scam because there are no new Sassa cards and it is not true that beneficiaries should get these cards before 1 January.
The statement mentioned that beneficiaries should be on the look-out for people requesting their personal and card details pretending to be from Sassa.
It was saod in the statement that Sassa conducts its business from its own offices and beneficiaries should not accept invitations to any other office.
"The second thing that beneficiaries should be aware of is that the Sassa card is not green in colour. The only valid Sassa card has the colours of the South African flag and it will never be replaced by a card that is green.
"The danger of responding to these scams is that beneficiaries could be stripped of their cash or unusual deductions which they never authorised would come off their grants in the near future.
"Beneficiaries should make sure that they do not give their personal details or card details to strangers because it can also create identity theft. Once a criminal syndicate has your personal details, they can commit fraud using your name," read the statement.
Beneficiaries have also been urged by Sassa to simply ignore these SMS message and if unsure, they should call Sassa on 0800 60 10 11 with enquiries.
