SASSA scams popular during the festive season

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) have announced that scams are popular during the festive season, with heightened fraud and theft possible during the December to January period.

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If you apply or receive a social grant, remain aware that scammers and fraudsters might be just as hard up for money as everyone else – except in their case, they’ll steal it.

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Here’s what you should know about social grant scams this festive season, and what you can do to stay safe from fraud and crime.

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SASSA SCAMS POPULAR DURING THE FESTIVE SEASON

Scams are especially popular during the festive season, according to SASSA.

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If you are a grant applicant or recipient, you should be careful whenever receiving messages that claim to be from the official grant agency. Scams are everywhere, and you will never be asked for your personal details via SMS or email.

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Recipients or applicants should also be sure that they access the legitimate version of the social grant website. Many websites look right, but they’re not the real website that you can find here.

SASSA SAFETY TIPS FOR RECIPIENTS

Safety tips for recipients include making sure that you (and only you) have ownership of your social grant card.

Social grants are meant for the applicant to use, even though grant fraud is one of the possible crimes victims undergo.

If you collect or spend your grant, be careful, too. Criminals are known to target people on (and near) grant payment dates.

REPORTING CRIMES TO SAPS

Are you the victim of a crime, or have you noticed social grant fraud (or crime) anywhere? Report crimes through available SAPS channels, where you will receive a reference or case number once someone has opened a case.

CONTACT SASSA

If you want to get in touch with the social grant agency to report a crime (or with a question), contact the social grant agency’s main hotline at +27 80 060 1011.

With anything you’d like to report, call the agency for more information or the correct department.