Your security and the privacy of your personal information are our priority. This is our guide on how to protect yourself from falling victim to fraud, scams, phishing and theft.
View latest scamsProtect your personal information
Personal information is any piece of information that - on its own or collectively - can uniquely identify you. Some examples:
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1. Name and surname
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2. Identity and passport number
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3. Online username and password
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4. Cellphone number
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5. Bank account or credit card number
Fraud and Unethical Conduct
Discovery may reward whistle-blowers for valid information provided, which result in the recovery of money lost due to fraud.
SMS: 43477
Toll-free phone: 0800 004500
Email: forensics@discovery.co.za
Tips
View any email, letter, sms or phone call that requests for your financial information or any other personal information with suspicion. When in doubt, contact the institution to verify the request.
Before discarding invoices, statements or sensitive information, shred or burn them. Never leave your personal information lying around in a public place.
Choose strong passwords - include numbers, special characters, upper and lower case letters. Remember to change passwords and PINs often.
Carry only the credit cards and membership cards that you need.
When logging onto a website, check you're on the company's legitimate secure website - even a single character difference means a different website. Make sure that the website you visit has a lock icon in the address bar and that the web address starts with the letters 'https'.
If you received a OTP (one time pin) via SMS if no changes was made or authorised by yourself, report this to the institution.
What to do
Document it
Write down the day, time and location.
Report it
Report it immediately to the police and the relevant financial institutes. Discovery may reward whistle-blowers, as a result of a valid fraud case. forensic investigation team.
Change your passwords
Change all your online passwords immediately if you suspect that your access has been compromised.
Types of fraud
Medical Aid
- False claims: Claiming for services that did not take place.
- Merchandising: Submitting a claim for non-healthcare items, for example, sunglasses.
- ATM scams: Receiving cash and submitting a claim for healthcare services.
- Card farming: Allowing a non-member to use the membership for treatment.
- Cosmetic surgery: Claiming for cosmetic surgery under a covered procedures code. Medical schemes generally do not cover cosmetic surgery.
- Non-disclosure: Not disclosing previous medical conditions and joins the scheme to claim for those conditions.
- Dispensing fraud: Where generic medicine is dispensed and the claim is received for the original drug at a higher cost.
Life Insurance
- False claim - death: Claims received for a death that has not occurred.
- False claim - disability: A disability claim received where the life assured has not experienced any trauma and is not disabled according to the terms and conditions on his or her policy.
- Non-disclosure: Not disclosing previous medical conditions and then attempting to claim for these conditions while on the policy.
- Misrepresentation of unnatural death:
- Suicide
- Homicide
- Hazardous pursuits
Short term insurance
- Inflating of claims: Submission of a valid claim, however the values of the items stolen are inflated or additional items are added, which were never stolen.
- Driving a vehicle whilst under the influence of alcohol or drugs: There is a misperception about this type of loss, a person is of the opinion that a blood test needs to be done to prove that the driver was under the influence of alcohol, this is not true.
- Staging of a loss: Claiming for the loss of a specified item that the client never owned, or that was not really lost.
- Causing further damage to items: A genuine loss occurred, however the client does not want the item repaired and causes further damage to the item in order to get a replacement.
Vitality
- Gym points: Swiping your card, or someone else's, at the gym and not actually taking part in any physical activity.
- Card farming: Allowing non-Vitality members to use the membership card to access the gym.
- Hotel booking abuse: Allowing non-Vitality members to lodge at a Vitality partner hotel at discounted rates.
- Healthy Food benefit: Buying excessive amounts of healthy foods for charitable purposes or resale, to get cash back, therefore benefitting financially.
Credit card
- Phishing: Criminals send emails claiming to come from a genuine company to try and trick you into disclosing personal information.
- ATM shoulder surfing: Criminals try to steal your card PIN while you use an ATM.
- Social engineering: Criminals impersonate bank employees and smooth talk you into sharing important information.
- Dumpster diving: Criminals search through your waste bins for bank statements or policy documents.
- Identity theft: Criminals steal and assume your identity, buying goods on credit in your name and leaving you in debt.