A series of investigations by IOL reveals the devastating impact of romance scams in South Africa, leaving numerous women financially ruined and emotionally traumatized. Victims allege that First National Bank (FNB) was often the preferred bank by scammers, despite the bank's claims of robust security measures. Critics question the role of bank officials in facilitating these scams, pointing to instances where large sums of cash were withdrawn without prior arrangements and suspicions raised during the transactions.
IOL has contacted FNB , providing a dossier with information of FNB customers who were scammed out of millions of rand, but the bank insists it has watertight measures against crime.A crime expert has questioned the role of bank officials in widespread romance scams which have left numerous women across South Africa destitute, after their hard-earned money including pensions is stolen.
As the love blossoms, with regular promises of fancy wedding ceremonies and blissful, lifelong marriages, the unsuspecting women are persuaded to either resign or take out bank loans so that the money would be invested into the “lovebirds” business venture to support their upcoming family. In an interview with IOL, Calvin Rafadi who is a research associate at the University of Johannesburg said banks have some questions to answer to authorities.
“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 The bank officials enable the money to be withdrawn in a short space of time.
“Women run the risk of having their money stolen, and at the same time they are blackmailed. The women who have managed to report these cases have been very bold. We see that the women who are reporting to the Hawks 419 scams unit are a lot.”
Finance Technology ROMANCE SCAMS SOUTH AFRICA FNB BANK FRAUD VICTIMS
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