NCC launches Yima tool to curb online scams
The National Consumer Commission has on Friday teamed up with the Southern African Fraud Prevention Services (SAFPS) to curb the increase of schemes and scams that leave South Africans with nothing in their pockets.
This comes after the commission noticed a sharp increase in scammers impersonating companies, investments and financial scams, multiplication schemes, and pyramid schemes.
The NCC has added the Yima (Stop) tool to its website to enable consumers to protect themselves before parting with their money.
Acting National Consumer Commissioner, Thezi Mabuza says the Yima platform allows consumers to verify whether the website is vulnerable, has been flagged as being used for scams, or is an unsecured website.
Yima means Stop in IsiXhosa or IsiZulu.
Mabuza described this partnership as a step closer to curbing scams or minimising the impact of scams on vulnerable consumers.
"Most consumers get scammed while transacting online, therefore, we saw it beneficial to the consumers to partner with SAFPS to implement the Yima tool. We ask consumers to STOP and think before completing a transaction, joining pyramid, multiplication, and related schemes, or submitting their details including banking details online.
"During the festive season, consumers lose their hard-earned cash through scams. We believe that the Yima Tool will help to empower consumers to be more proactive and vigilant when transacting online."
SAFPS Head of Product Development Nazia Karrim says the Yima online reporting tools show that advanced fee scams and investment scams have been the most prevalent, making up 33% and 24% of incident volumes, respectively.
"Online scams, specifically those related to goods and services like vehicle purchase scams, have also been rampant. One of the emerging trends is Ancestry scams, which exploit African cultural beliefs. Victims are often duped by fraudsters pretending to be traditional healers.
"The losses are substantial, sometimes even involving the sexual abuse of female victims. We encourage consumers to complete the scam awareness and prevention efforts using Yima Tool services. This will help us determine the level of understanding and what type of information consumers require"
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