Credit and cheque cards. Photo: AdobeStock
FNB raises alarm over increase in debit order fraud
FNB confirmed that there was an unusually high number of fraudulent debit orders detected in December 2018 and January 2019.
Credit and cheque cards. Photo: AdobeStock
First National Bank (FNB) confirmed that there was an unusually high number of dodgy debit orders in December 2018 and January 2019. The descriptions on these debit orders were mostly Procall and Mzansi.
Investigations have already begun with the bank contacting customers directly asking whether the transactions were legit.
Christoph Nieuwoudt, chief executive of FNB Consumer said:
“Our investigations have provided sufficient proof that the impacted customers had not provided a mandate for the debit order and as result, the debits to customer accounts were unauthorised. FNB is proactively reversing all Procall debit orders including any associated charges and we are working with the corresponding bank to reverse all Mzansi debit orders. We are working with the Payments Association of South Africa (PASA) and the South African Banking Risk and Information Centre (SABRIC) on the matter and will be pursuing criminal charges.”
“In conjunction with the relevant partners, we are deploying analytical, forensic and legal expertise to protect our customers against unauthorised debit orders. We apologise to impacted customers for the inconvenience caused and encourage them to regularly review their bank statements for any abnormalities,” added Nieuwoudt.
What you can do to dispute a debit order with FNB
If the amount is less than R200, FNB customers can reverse or dispute this on the FNB App, through online banking or through cellphone banking.
The bank also notifies customers via SMS every time a new debit order is raised on their accounts, with the ability to stop, dispute and reverse it.
If the amount is more than R200, you’ll have to contact the FNB customer care line or visit your nearest FNB branch. To contact FNB to raise fraud issues, call 087 575 9444 if you are in South Africa or +27 11 369 2924 when dialing from outside of South Africa.
Important to note, though, that debit order disputes above R200 may incur a fee. This is to stop the service being misused by customers trying to reverse legitimate debit orders.
