Several First National Bank (FNB) clients have launched cases with the SA Police Service (SAPS), insisting that they were defrauded of millions of rand by cunning scammers.
However, the majority of the scammed victims who spoke to IOL insist FNB failed to protect them during the scams, with allegations that due to collusion between FNB staff and the scammers, some victims were allowed to withdraw huge sums of money, which other clients claim they were not available when the withdrawals happened.
Since last year, IOL has been running the scammed series where several women and men have lost millions of rand earned from pensions and bank loans. The victims have regrouped and are knocking on different doors, demanding answers.
Responding to the widespread allegations, FNB’s spokesperson Sizwekazi Mdingi said detection and prevention of fraud are of utmost priority to the bank.
“FNB takes all fraud cases seriously and undertakes to investigate each case thoroughly in line with its zero-tolerance approach to criminality. In terms of the outlined fraud cases and their modus operandi, the bank sympathises with all victims of these incidents, and the detection and prevention of this fraud remains of utmost priority to the bank,” she said.
“FNB maintains that the claims made against the bank, which implies collusion with the fraudsters, negligence and money laundering are completely unfounded in this regard.”
Last week, in an interview with IOL, Calvin Rafadi who is a research associate at the University of Johannesburg said in instances where huge amounts of money were withdrawn, banks have some questions to answer to authorities.
“The reason why some of these people (bank officials) do not even report these transactions which are tantamount to money laundering, it turns out to be negligence on the part of tellers or bank managers. Once a bank has become aware of suspicious transactions, or large amounts being withdrawn in cash, they must report to the Financial Intelligence Centre,” he said.
“If the banks did not do so, should they be found guilty by the banking ombudsman for failure to report, there is a fine of up to R100 million or jail time. The crime syndicates make sure they have a connection with some of the tellers and the bank managers, just for the bank officials to look the other side and not report such transactions. The bank officials enable the money to be withdrawn in a short space of time.”
He said it is questionable, as some of the victims allege, that they were escorted into the banks by the criminals. In one case, a woman insists that after withdrawing large amounts of money, the cash was not handed to her, but the FNB officials allegedly handed the money to the criminals – who they seemed familiar with.
Rafadi said by escorting the victims into the banks, the criminals will be directing the besieged women to specific tellers and managers who they work with behind the scenes.
Responding to the scammed victims' allegations, FNB insisted that it complies with all local and international regulations that govern the banking industry.
“On the allegations of money laundering, FNB has effective governance structures and complies with all local and international regulations that govern the banking industry. The bank is committed to ensuring that its bank accounts are managed in compliance with all regulatory and legal requirements.
In reference to the large cash withdrawal requests made in these cases, FNB can confirm that it has strict processes and procedures in place that need to be adhered to upon receipt of a cash requisition or withdrawal request from a customer. Such a transaction cannot occur without the appropriate audit trail being in place,” said Mdingi.
She said the bank is obligated to give its customers their personal funds when requested to do so, provided all the necessary protocols have been followed.
“As a bank we have implemented strong measures, including robust monitoring systems and well-trained staff, to spot and handle any suspicious activities. These steps, combined with our continuous enhancements in security strategies and partnerships with law enforcement agencies, demonstrate our unwavering commitment to keeping our customers safe,” said Mdingi.
Some of the victims allege that they were under a form of duress when they were escorted into FNB branches and withdrew money. Mdingi said FNB has measures to spot the instances where customers are unsafe, and to act.
“If a situation indicating possible duress arises, we act swiftly to prioritise our customers' welfare while also safeguarding their privacy,” she said.
“We strongly encourage our customers to always remain vigilant and cautious to mitigate the chance of these incidents materialising where they are forced or manipulated into making transactions against their will. Customers need to be aware that fraudsters are constantly coming up with new ways to get their money, including the use of romantic relationships and if something seems too good to be true, it usually is.
“Regrettably as these cases highlight, these clients fully authorised the transactions either in branch or online and did not report the fraud immediately to the bank,” she said.
On Monday last week, IOL reported that a North West based woman, aged 64, is languishing in abject poverty and demanding answers from FNB after scammers allegedly transferred her R2 million pension without her knowledge.
On Tuesday, IOL also reported that another woman, former teacher, Refilwe insists FNB should have protected her when on three instances in one week, she was escorted into two branches in Joburg to withdraw an amount exceeding R2 million from her bank account, and she lost all the money to cunning scammers.
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