Deposit and refund scams

Deposit and refund scams are designed to trick you with payment slips or proof of payments in the hope that you'll hand over goods or provide services before you notice that the funds have not actually been cleared.
 

Money paid is not money cleared

Deposit scams

A deposit scam involves the use of altered or fraudulent teller receipts, deposit slips or internet payment confirmations to trick you into believing that a payment was made into your account and cleared, creating the impression that the payment cannot be returned or reversed. Typically, you'll be asked to hand over goods before you realise you've been scammed.

Here's a common scenario:

Fraudsters respond to your advertisement to sell a laptop. They'll tell you they've made a cash payment or EFT into your account, send you proof of payment and ask for the laptop. If you rely solely on the proof of payment and release the goods, the cheque is subsequently returned and you sit with a debit on your account – and no goods.

Refund scams

A refund scam also involves the use of altered or fraudulent receipts, deposit slips or internet payment confirmations to trick you into believing that a payment has been made into your account and cleared.

Here's a common scenario:

Fraudsters contact you, claiming they've made either an incorrect payment into your account or an accidental overpayment on an expected payment due to you. You're asked to refund the overpaid (or incorrectly paid) amount by EFT to a nominated account. To support their claim they provide you with a fraudulent internet payment confirmation or cash deposit slip to confirm the deposit of cleared funds. You may be convinced that the funds are cleared and then return the incorrect payment or overpayment. As you made the 'refund' by electronic transfer, the funds are immediately released and the fraudsters withdraw the money and disappear. A few days later the initial deposit that was made with a fraudulent cheque is returned and your account is debited.

Perpetrators have also started to impersonate representatives from well-known companies like Telkom, Eskom and SARS in an effort to make the scam appear genuine and to increase the pressure on you to act quickly.
 

Tips to avoid being the victim of a deposit and refund scam
 

• Wait for clearance. Never rely on proof of payment alone. Rather wait for the funds to be cleared before handing over goods. Cheques can take up to seven working days to be cleared, and remember that even bank-guaranteed cheques can be forged. You can also contact Nedbank for confirmation of clearance.
• Use bank-defined beneficiaries. There are hundreds of well-known companies on a prepopulated list you can find on your internet banking profile. If you use these details, you'll know you're paying into the right account.
• Fraudsters make small mistakes. Look out for little errors on your proof of payment, or possible alterations. These are often signs of fraud.