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FIC: Report on popular holiday scams ahead of the festive season
- 11 December 2024
- Regulatory Compliance and Legislation
- South African Accounting Academy
Summary:
The Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) has issued a report and a media release to draw the public’s attention to popular holiday scams ahead of the holiday season.
Article:
The FIC’s report follows the analysis of reports it has received over time.
As South Africa’s financial intelligence unit, the FIC receives regulatory reports from accountable institutions. Flowing from its analysis, the FIC identified the methods, trends, and patterns of suspicious transactions, and red flags or indicators associated with holiday scams.
These scams relate to holiday rentals, accommodation, vouchers, travel agencies, holiday clubs, fraudulent timeshares, and online ticket sales. The report, titled: Crime does not take a holiday – Avoid being scammed this festive season, explores various categories of holiday scams and highlights some indicators of possible criminality that the public should be aware of. The report also offers tips on how to avoid falling victim to scammers festive season.
To entice and extract money from their targets, fraudsters are known to impersonate legitimate brands, travel agencies, airlines, and trusted accommodation booking websites and create fake social media pages. They offer fake holiday packages, accommodation, and transport tickets for air, bus, and rail travel.
Members of the public are advised to apply extreme caution when approached directly, via social media or by any other means regarding holiday deals that may seem too good to be true. This is especially suspect where deposits or payments need to be made upfront to facilitate the transfer of funds. Scammers often use pressure tactics and urgency to commit to taking up deals or offers.
Those who have fallen victim to a holiday scam should, among the various steps to be taken, file a complaint with their local branch of the South African Police Service.
Click here to download the 10-page Report:
https://www.fic.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Typologies-Holiday-scams-publication-2024.pdf
Relevance to Auditors, Independent Reviewers & Accountants:
- Accountable Institutions should stay up-to-date with the latest developments that affect professional accountants, money laundering and terrorism financing – specifically publications issued by the FIC.
- As a consumer, you also need to be aware of the latest scams that are aimed at separating you from your money.
- As a consumer, you also need to be informed of the types of scams that fraudsters are utilising.
Relevance to Your Clients:
- Accountable Institutions should stay up-to-date with the latest developments that affect professional accountants, money laundering and terrorism financing – specifically publications issued by the FIC.
- As consumers, your clients also need to be aware of the latest scams that are aimed at separating you from your money.