Security & Fraud: Tips from Nailteq

Security and fraud awareness - protect yourself

It’s crucial for you to protect your personal information and to prevent fraud taking place on any policies or products you have with Discovery. People with treacherous or dishonourable motives or criminal intent could gain access to your personal information and cause you serious problems.

Protect your personal information and prevent fraud

What’s personal information?

Any piece of information that – on its own or collectively – can uniquely identify you:

•    Name and surname
  

•    Identity/Passport number
  

•    Cellphone number
  

•    Bank account number, for example, cheque account
  

•    Credit card number and CVV (the three digits on the back of your credit card) Proof of income, for example, payslip or bank account statements
  

•    Health information
  

You, or who you share your personal information with, need to protect it to prevent these:

•    Phishing – criminals send emails claiming to come from a genuine company to try and trick you into disclosing personal information
  

•    ATM shoulder surfing – criminals can steal your debit card PIN while transacting at an ATM
  

•    Social engineering – criminals impersonate bank personnel and smooth talk you to share information, which gives the criminals access to bank accounts
  

•    Dumpster diving – criminals trawl through your waste bins for bank statements or policy documents  to commit crime
  

•    ID Theft – criminals can steal and assume your identity, buying goods in your name and leaving you in debt
  

Tips to avoid these risks

•    Avoid leaving your personal information lying around in a public place, for example, an airport, the Gautrain
  

•    First confirm the need before giving personal information to anyone
  

•    Carry only credit cards or membership cards you need
  

•    Before discarding invoices, statements or documents containing sensitive information, tear them up or burn them
  

•    Choose strong passwords: Include numbers, special characters, upper case and lower case
  

•    Change passwords and PINs often
  

•    When internet banking, check you’re on the legitimate website – don’t click on a link in an email, but rather type in the web address and look for the secure lock
  

Fallen prey?

   Document it: The day, time and location
   Report it: Immediately to the police and the relevant financial institutes