Identity theft is up by a massive 337% and Wendy Knowler explains why
Find out why identity theft has seemed to skyrocket and what the future holds for the cruise liner industry.
HERE’s a not-so-fun fact: fraudsters had a field day in 2020 with so many people working from home, sending sensitive information across servers that don’t have the same level of security as the servers at their normal place of business.
Impersonation fraud is the act of a criminal impersonating another person by stealing their identity and then opening accounts in their name.
The credit provider will ask the questions normally asked to the account holder. Because of data breaches, this information is available to the fraudster making it easier to take over the account. They then take over the account and leave the victim with massive amounts of debt that they never took out in the first place.
Back in August, we got the news that Experian - a consumer, business and credit information services agency – had experienced a breach of data which exposed the personal information of as many as 24-million South Africans to a suspected fraudster.
Experian stressed at the time that it did not provide the fraudster involved with identity details.
The fraudster provided Experian with 25 million names, surnames and South African identity numbers which Experian verified. The data shared was limited to contact information including telephone, email and physical address and employment information which includes place of work, title, start date and work contact details. No personal consumer credit, financial or banking information was shared by Experian.
Shortly afterwards, scores of people started complaining that Homechoice
accounts had been opened in their names.
Many of them have told me that HomeChoice blamed the Experian leak.
But then why aren’t we seeing scores of complaints about fraudulent accounts
being open with other credit providers?
Sadly, Homechoice does not deal directly with journalists.
Their outsourced PR company tells me I can send through cases, and they will investigate, but they aren’t going to be responding to any of my questions. Okay then...
Some
of those who complained to me about HomeChoice taking too long to investigate
and clear them of responsibility for the fraudulent accounts have since had
their issues resolved by Homemark, on their own.
Others have not been so lucky. HomeChoice insisting it could take up to 90 days for their investigation into a fraudulent account to be investigated. THREE MONTHS!
Some have been handed over to debt collectors MBD Attorneys.
Still, almost daily, people are complaining on HelloPeter of waiting since last
year for a letter from HomeChoice, confirming that the fraudulent account has
been closed and any amounts owing written off.
Last week I got an email from Bonginkosi to say that he told HomeChoice in
early December that a fraudulent account had been opened in his name, back in
August.
He got the standard “we will get back to you in 30 to 90 days” response, and
two months on, he had yet to get any feedback at all.
Expecting people to wait up to three months for the resolution of a fraudulent
account is unacceptable, as by the time most of them find out they’ve been
a victim of ID fraud, they already have an impaired credit record as a
result.
So they must sit for three months, unable to get any credit? Imagine the impact that could have on someone wanting to buy a car or a
house?
At the weekend, HomeChoice’s PR got back to me to say that “the issue has been
resolved with the customer.”
Come on, HomeChoice, put more people on the job and get those fraudulent
cases finalised and those clearance letters in the hands of the innocent people
who got caught up in it. For goodness sake!
WHAT TO DO
*Get into the habit of checking your credit record regularly and sign up for alerts
which some bureaus offer so get a message when someone tries to apply for
credit in your name.
*Visit the SAFPS website on www.safps.org.za,
and click on protect your identity. Best you have a smartphone and a copy of
their ID with you. Otherwise, you can follow the manual process explained on the website.
No plain sailing for cruise industry
It’s been a year of pain for cruiseliner operators and their passengers.
Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) announced a few days ago that it has cancelled its 2020/2021 cruise season.
Voyages for the remainder of the 2020/21 cruise season will be moved to the next local cruise season between November 2021 and April 2022, with embarkation from both Durban and Cape Town.
“In late December 2020, the Company showcased an onboard inspection of the vessels’ rigorous and robust protocol to the various authorities in South Africa including the Department of Transport, Department of Health, Port Health, Department of Home Affairs together with the South African Maritime Safety Authority,” the company said.
“While authorities indicated that they were satisfied with the protocol MSC Cruises had presented, we are awaiting approval to resume.”
We are as disappointed as our guests will be that we have had to cancel their holiday plans despite our strenuous efforts to demonstrate that we can operate safely and ensure the wellbeing of our customers, our crew and the destinations we visit with our industry-leading, proven and effective protocol. This was a difficult decision to make as we had invested in preparing as much as possible while the relevant authorities conducted their analysis. While we await their final decision, the delay makes it impossible for us to perform the remaining sailings
Two new ships will be introduced in November 2021 - MSC Lirica, which will be homeported in Cape Town, and MSC Musica, homeported in Durban.
The upcoming season, COVID-19 allowing, will feature 14 different itineraries across South Africa with cruising ranging in length from 2 to 14 nights.
RECOURSE OPTIONS
And so to the thorny issue of recourse.
MSC says: “All guests whose reservations are affected by the cancellation of the 2020/2021 season in South Africa are eligible for a voucher for the value of their current 2020/2021 cruise package. All guests affected will also receive an onboard credit of USD 50 per cabin to be used for their next cruise as a recognition for the involuntary inconvenience caused by the cancellations.”
But CGSO Ombud Magauta Mphahlele says while MSC can charge passengers more than their voucher value if the cruise they choose is different - different destination or more nights, but they can’t increase the price, within three years, of the cancelled cruise.
So I asked MSC: Will MSC be running the identical cruise - same destination, same duration - in the next two seasons, and if so, will those whose cruises were cancelled (not by them) be able to take those like-for-like cruises at no extra cost?
RESPONSE:
MSC Cruises will be running cruises with the same destinations and same duration in the upcoming local cruise seasons. Guests whose cruises have been cancelled because of the COVID-19 Regulations will have the option to rebook their cruise on an exact like-for-like basis at no extra cost. For example, same departure date a year later, same itinerary and same cabin category.
GOOD TO KNOW!
Contact Wendy
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