HOW TO STAY SAFE
Social Engineering
Social engineering is a tactic used by scammers to influence or deceive a victim in order to steal their personal/ financial information or money, or to gain control over a system. It is about about using your behaviour and what you share with the world against you, and exploits your trust. A common tactic by scammers is to create a fake profile and then befriend potential victims, taking great interest in their social lives. They use this connection to gain access to your life and information.
Technology is playing an increased role in the majority of the reported fraud instances and social engineering is becoming a reality of everyday life, which can have dire consequences.
Social engineering is also one of the most common initiation tactics used in many types of scams.
How To Spot It
These are the red flags you should look out for:
- Requests for personal or confidential information,
- They show a keen interest in significant dates and personal information. Be wary about a stranger suddenly becoming interested in information such as significant dates and the names of children and loved ones.
- They entice you with amazing investment opportunities. often offering significantly higher returns than those provided by regulated banks and financial institutions. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
- They make advance fee requests. These scams also involve advance fee requests to speed up the processing of a document or to pay the fees associated with setting up an investment, loan or employment opportunity (which never then materialises).
- The scammers are evasive when it comes to making contact in person or answering any personal or private questions.
- From a romance scam perspective, when a victim wants to take the relationship or friendship to the next level and meet in person, scammers often become evasive- making excuses as to why they can’t meet in person or take a video call.
What To Do
There are steps you can take to empower yourself to fight back against scams:
- Limit what you share online: Be aware of what information you share online, especially in the public domain. Insights into your life gives scammers information about you that could be used to scam you.
- Be sceptical: Be sceptical and verify any unexpected friend, follow, or messaging requests.
- Do not share information: Do not share personal or confidential information with someone you do not know, especially via messaging platforms.
- Don't transfer money: Do not simply agree to pay anyone money or participate in a 'great opportunity or initiative'. Crowd funding for a 'good cause' or investing a great 'business opportunity' are common techniques scammers use to entice their next victim.
- Verify and do your own research: Before you take any action, contact the company or organisation via their formal channels to confirm any offers or deals are in fact legitimate before engaging.
- Report it: If you have been scammed, please report it immediately to the relevant organisation and/ or authorities, as well as the Yima reporting function below, or the Yima scams hotline.
Stop. Think. Verify. Don't get scammed!
HOW TO STAY SAFE
Loan/ Debt Collector Scams
A loan scam is when a criminal deceives an individual into applying for fake loans. The scammers request personal and confidential information which is later used for other criminal activities.FIND OUT MORE
Advanced Fee Scams
This is when scammers trick victims into paying upfront fees, usually for discounted goods or services, with the promise of a prize, large payoff, or a gift that needs to be delivered, or even an inheritance that needs to be distributed.FIND OUT MORE
Investment Scams
Scammers create the illusion of amazing investment opportunities that will help you improve your financial status.FIND OUT MORE
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