The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has warned members of the public and small businesses to be cautious of scams requesting them to submit their banking information for having qualified for government’s 50% Covid-19 intervention fund.
CCPC Public Relations Officer Rainford Mutabi said the Commission has received complaints from the general public that some individuals are sending text messages requesting people to verify their bank account details as a prerequisite to having money credited in their account when in fact not.
Mr. Mutabi explained that the Commission has noted that fraudsters have taken advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic to extort money from unsuspecting individuals by using various electronic platforms with intent to divert money to their personal accounts.
“The public may wish to know that government will never request for personal banking details using an SMS or WhatsApp channels.”
“Further, the Commission urges the public not to offer or disclose their banking information like name, date of birth, phone number and card serial numbers through SMS, WhatsApp or the unsecure Internet pages as doing so would put them at great risk of losing their hard earned money to fraudsters,” Mr. Mutabi said
He added that the Commission is working with Zambia Information and Communication Technologies Authority (ZICTA) and the Police to ensure that perpetrators of such fraudulent conduct are identified and punished.
Members of the public may wish to know that this fraudulent conduct is prohibited under Section 308 of the Penal Code Chapter 87 of the Laws of Zambia and offenders are liable to imprisonment for 3 years,” he stated.