Absa Bank losses : the plot has thickened

This is a report on Mybroadband from April 30 2013

There is growing concern among ABSA clients that their money may not be safe at the bank amidst the spate of SIM swap fraud which is costing ABSA clients thousands.

Over the last few weeks there were numerous reports of large sums of money being lost due to SIM swap fraud – often linked to MTN and ABSA customers.

In the latest case fraudsters stole R360,000 from Media24 CEO Esmare Weideman, who is also an MTN and ABSA customer.

Weideman said that ABSA is a recurring theme in the SIM swap scam. “Every mail and call I got today about similar internet fraud experiences involved ABSA,” said Weideman.

According to a report in Die Burger an MTN employee said that a syndicate within MTN and ABSA are organising these crimes.

While the details about the scam remain sketchy, people who have fallen prey to these themes do not seem to have any joy in trying to recover the funds.

“My office was inundated today by callers who had same internet fraud experiences. Not one got their money back,” said Weideman.