Firstly this e-mail is not from SARS.. it is a scam.
Secondly, and I have said this before in other scam reviews.. that you should NEVER click on links in e-mails when money is involved… EVER!
Thirdly, why would SARS send you an e-mail telling you that you are entitled for a refund but you have to fill out forms first? Every refund I’ve received from SARS has gone straight into my bank account…remember…they have your details already.

Here is the e-mail that was received.

————–

Tax Refund Notification
After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity, we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of 18,582.50 ZAR. Please submit the tax refund request and allow 2-3 days in order to process it.
Click here to submit you tax refund request
Note : A refund can be delayed a variety of reasons, for example submitting invalid records or applying after deadline.
Yours Sincerely
South African Revenue Service.

——————-

Keep your eyes open, and remember… NEVER click on links in e-mails when money is involved!

City: Johannesburg

Country: South Africa

Firstly, the e-mail does NOT come from your bank… this is an internet scam playing on your emotions and your fear about your banking security.

Here is what the e-mail says.

———————————
“Dear Customer,

During our security research, we observed that our new 2010 Security Certificate Portfolio Launch was not successfully configured for your online account , you can complete this section with online security page below for  the program security software to  be automatically Launched for you online  or  you can also visit your nearest branch for this special security program. Note:  this program is designed to protect you from any online Phishing attacks and unauthorized access to your online account

Please Click Below and follow the steps.

http://standardbank-security/logon.htm
 

Standard Bank  Internet Banking Team.

Standard Bank email disclaimer and confidentiality note
Please go to site/homepage/emaildisclaimer.html to read our email disclaimer and confidentiality note. Kindly email disclaimer@standardbank.co.za (no content or subject line necessary) if you cannot view that page and we will email our email disclaimer and confidentiality note to you.”
————————————

So let’s look at a the problems with this e-mail.

1/ The e-mail comes from “STANDARD BANK IB SUPPORT” …. But wait a minute, if you actually look at the e-mail address and not just the name, the e-mail comes from secretshopper@aboutface.com. Does that really sounds like a Standard Bank e-mail address to you???

2/ The first paragraph is a load of rubbish, do you really think your bank would EVER send you an e-mail telling you to login to their webpage because they failed to update your account correctly??? Of course not! What would happen is the next time you logged into your internet banking account, there would be a big warning message that would pop up that would tell you to please complete your details again (or something to that effect)… Let me just say that again… AFTER you logged into your account…. on your OWN accord, not because some silly e-mail told you to do so.

3/ The last line of paragraph 1 is the real slap in the face, they tell you that is to protect you from online Phishing, when in fact this IS a phishing attack!

4/ They then ask you to click on the below link. Now for safety reasons, I have not made the link above work on this website or I would be helping these criminals. Although this link LOOKS like it is going to take you to a Standard Bank website it doesn’t. This is a simple HTML link reference that has the actual web address camouflaged. Let me demonstrate, hover your mouse over this link yourbank.whatever (now look at the bottom left of your web browser, you should see the address that you would go to if you clicked on this link), this would take you straight back to http://www.reviewsaboutanything.com/ if you clicked on it, but it’s really easy as you can see to have the link say something and redirect you somewhere else. Now if you have received this scam e-mail  and you did hover your mouse over the link it would be pointing to a completely different website, one that has NOTHING to do with your bank at all!

5/ Let’s assume that in point 4 above, you didn’t hover your mouse over the link, and you just clicked on it. This would take you to a website that looks EXACTLY like your banks website. This can be achieved by a web programmer with 1 weeks experience, in under 5minutes. But what should you be looking for on your internet banking website is the address at the top of your browser, is that the address of your banks website? In this case, NO!, so get the hell out of there!. The second thing to look  for is if there is a padlock icon indicating that this website is a secure website and that your data is encrypted, which there isn’t in this scam.

6/ These scam artists got even more clever for FNB customers out there. Although my e-mail above was one supposedly from Standard Bank, this scam has been used for pretty much all the banks in world. However, FNB clients think they can’t be caught with this one since you receive a One Time Password (OTP) from your bank to your cell phone before you can log on. What happens here is that you connect to the criminals website, you type in your details, and they FORWARD all that information to your banks REAL website. Your bank then sends you your OTP to your cell phone which you then type into the criminals website!!! Take a wild guess what they do with it, yip, they FORWARD it to your real banks website as well, which means they are now logged into your internet banking website, and your browser says “the page cannot be displayed”. Right now your money is no longer under your control and you have no idea about any of this.

7/ How nice of the criminals to put the e-mail disclaimer at the bottom of their e-mail… this is just to make it look more authentic so you don’t suspect that there is anything wrong.

So, how to protect yourself?
1/ NEVER EVER EVER, click on a link in an e-mail that will take you to ‘your banks website’. I don’t care WHAT that e-mail says. You all know how to go to your banks websites directly without clicking on a link in an e-mail.

2/ ALWAYS look at the address at the top of your browser to make sure you are actually on your banks website.

3/ Read the security documents on your banks websites to find all the methods to double and triple checking that you are using your banks website. Just because it looks right,  doesn’t make it right!

I hope this helps you all out, and that none of you get scammed with this!

Here is another Fifa scam….They tell you that you have won $1000000 (says with his pinky near his mouth) and then rip you on the claims process!!! Not an old concept but watch out for it nonetheless!

marco.marco@inwind.it
show details 02:40 (3 hours ago)

FIFA-Strasse 20,
P.O. Box 8044 Zurich,
Switzerland

Ref: FIFA/SA/2820X2/10

We happily announce to you the draw of the South Africa 2010 FiFa World Cup
Lottery Promotions held on the 8th of June 2010 of which you emerged a winner.
You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of US$1000,000.00 (One
Million United States Dollars) To file your claims, please contact our agent
in
Africa Nigeria where FiFa has assigned the International Payment Centre.

Mr Fred Samuel
Email:fifapromo309@yahoo.co.id
+2347062446210

Ms.Toju Yemi
Online coordinator
Copyright ©1994 – 2010 FIFA. All rights reserved
sponsored by Fifa Corporation and UN.

City: Johannesburg

Country: South Africa

Long story – short. What the scammers want is the 3-digit PIN
number on the back of the card. Don’t give it to them. Instead, tell them
you’ll call VISA or MasterCard directly for verification of their conversation. The
real VISA told us that they will never ask for anything on the card as they
already know the information since they issued the card! If you give the
scammers your 3 Digit PIN Number, you think you’re receiving a credit.
However, by the time you get your statement you’ll see charges for purchases
you didn’t make, and by then it’s almost too late and/or more difficult to
actually file a fraud report.

City: Johannesburg

Country: South Africa

I received my 3rd call for this year on Tuesday, and was informed that I was one of 15 finalists for a competition that I entered via sms on the 30th of June.

30th of June…that’s odd for a couple reasons.
1/ I was not in the country on the 20th of June and did not have my S.A phone with me
2/ I never enter sms competitions EVER!
3/ When looking at my itemised billing from my cell provider, after the phone call from World Connect, there were no sms sent around that time due to my not been in the country.

However on this particular Tuesday afternoon I was feeling upbeat and was happy to talk to the consultant on the phone for a while to see what he had to say. Apparently I had entered this competition to win a Chevy Spark, and I was one of 15 finalists. I was also informed that “no matter what” I would win one of the other prices which comprised of Quad Bikes, GPS, Ice Makers, Weekend Away packages etc.

The catch of course, is that I had to attend the draw held in Midrand, and it was insisted that I brought my wife with me. After informing the person on the other side of the phone that my wife would not be able to attend, he insisted that I had to have her there to sign when I won (not a legal requirement just out of interest). Obviously since I had heard this pitch before during the year – but on previous occasions I had just told them I could not attend- I asked the consultant if this was a time share sales pitch. I was informed that it was most definitely not. So my next question was, “are you sure you are not going to try sell me something, cause I get a lot of calls which are total bull$!*^ ” I was interrupted at that point with “Mr ***** this call is recorded for your security and I know that there are people like that out there, but I promise this is real and you have won a price”
Playing along, I said, “great, what time is the draw and when do I have to be there”
I was informed that I could attend at 14:00, 16:00 or 18:00. So I asked, “yes but when is the draw” I was informed that the draw would take place whenever I chose to attend.

Ok hang on a second… There are only 15 finalists, of which I am one of them by some miracle considering I have not entered this competition, but it doesn’t matter what time I choose to go I will be there for the draw.
“so what if 5 people choose to go at 2, 5 at 4 and 5 at 6, who gets to see the draw” I ask.
The reply was “oh, what we do is find out from all 15 people when they can make it, then find the time that the most people will attend and inform you to come at that time, and don’t forget to bring your wife and an empty stomach because we will be serving you dinner for the draw”

Dinner? What if I go at 2?, and what if I can ONLY go at 2 but the other 14 people agree to go at 6pm, then what??? Clearly this is a total scam, but I’m still playing along on the phone. “Great, I can’t wait, can you send me directions” I asked.
I was told that the ‘event co-ordinator’ from World Connect would be in touch with me the next day t give me directions, but he needed to know how old I am, what I do for a living, and if I had a job. Of course I’m not that stupid, and just told the consultant that those details were not relevant for a competition.

2 minutes after hanging up from the consultant of World Connect, I decided to do a search in Google for “World Connect” (possibly what you have just done to get here) and what a big surprise, there are tons of sites with literally HUNDERDS of complaints about this company. The exact same speech given to each person, and the same number that you can call back on, which just rings.

Now granted I am not going to the draw tonight, but from everything I have read on the websites from people who DID attend, it is a sales pitch to buy some type of ‘time share’. When I received a call from the ‘event co-ordinator’ this morning to give me directions, I said to the person “listen, I really don’t wanna go to anything that is going to try sell me time share or try make me buy something” the reply was “ok bye” and the phone was quickly put down by the person on the other end.

City: All

Country: South Africa

I have a townhouse which I rent out to supplement my income. My tenant decided to buy a house and moved out so I advertised the townhouse on the internet. A few people answered the advertisement including an “agent” who said they had a tenant for me. They came to see the townhouse, were happy with the terms, and agreed to sign a lease which was produced by the “agent” who insisted that they would collect the money each month and manage the property for a small fee of R195.00 per month. It was agreed that the first month rent would be “agent’s commission”. The tenant moved in and the agent got the first month’s rent as “commission”. The second month’s rent was paid to the agent who said they needed to hold onto it as there were some repairs that needed to be done. I agreed that they could get a handyman to repair the windows and deduct the costs from the second month’s rent but that I would get a plumber and electrician to do any other work as it was still under guarantee as the townhouse had been totally renovated. I sent a plumber (who waited two hours for the agent in vain) and finally the plumber reported that there was nothing wrong with the plumbing! (This was just a ploy for the agent to send a bill for a plumbing job that would not be done!!) I became quite suspicious and asked the Agent to send me the following:

An invoice for the commission paid (I need this for SARS to claim expenses against income)
An invoice for the repairs done to the windows
The balance of the second month’s rent to be paid into my account deducting the invoice for the repairs.

I was assured that this money had been paid into my account. No invoices were forthcoming.
I persisted, phoning on a daily basis to see where the money was and eventually was told that the money had been paid to the wrong person and that as soon as it was returned, they would pay me!! I am still waiting. Now I cannot get hold of them and when I phone the original phone number I was given the lady answering says she will take a message and they will get back to me.

I then decided to check on the “agency” and discovered that it (and the so called individual agents) was not registered with the South African Estate Agency Board. The company is disclosed as a PTY Ltd on the lease but is actually a cc. The agent then started changing cell phone numbers and only with persistence did I manage to find the new cell phone numbers. However, as we I write this, they have changed their numbers again. The “office” that they claim to operate from is actually an answering service who have no idea where they can be reached physically. The agent also tells me that she no longer works for the agency and has no idea where they are! She is not responsible for any of the dealings that she had with me because in her words, she no longer works for them and I should contact the owners. I asked for details and cell phone numbers of the tenant so that I could arrange for the next month’s rent to be paid directly to me. This was not forthcoming, so I had to go to the property and wait for the tenant to arrive home one evening. We then discovered that the tenant had been told a totally different amount of rental to pay the agency and it had to be cash. We have since, written up a new agreement, and arranged for the money to be paid directly into my account.

I continue to pursue this matter and will get a physical address soon to deliver a summons. However, be warned, these guys are definitely on the take, check out any “agent” that says they will rent out your property on your behalf and manage the process thereafter. There is no need for me to give you a name; they will change the name as fast as they change their cell phone numbers. Insist that you meet them at their offices to sign any leases…. Don’t fall for the “we will come to you” ploy. I am R10 000 down on this agreement, luckily I pursed this early but I can image that they would get away with at least three or four month’s rent before it comes to light that the rent is not being paid.

City: Johannesburg

Country: South Africa

The client places a large order with the company using a company name they have and asks for a cash account as they are in a hurry to get the goods.
They ask the company to send a pro forma invoice via fax (a number that is not related to them at all) and then they phone again asking for the value of the pro forma invoice as their server is down and they cannot retrieve the fax pro forma invoice. The company quotes the value of the pro forma invoice as say R23 410.20 and gives the person their bank details over the phone so that they can make a cash deposit.

The client insists that he makes the cash deposit so that he does not have to wait for his cheque to clear as he is in a hurry for the goods.

The client then deposits R10.20 into the account and gets a stamped deposit receipt from the bank. He then add the 23 400 to the R100 column in the deposit area and faxes the deposit slip to the company advising them that he will be there to fetch his goods in the next 10 minutes as this order is extremely urgent. 10 minutes later he arrives with the original of the bank deposit slip (all paid up in cash – no waiting for cheque clearance) and leaves with his goods.

Days later the finance department tries to balance the credit of R10.20 they have in their account! This is when they pick up that the goods have been “stolen”. They contact the company that placed the order and find that they do not have a proper order and that the company who placed the order does not know anything about it. Their name has been used only and no-one can trace the client who actually placed the order. The crooks are usually very clear in also making sure that the number plates on the vehicles used to collect the goods are stolen in case there is a security check. The name and phone numbers used as security are also bogus. If their photos are taken when driving into a complex, they pull a cap down over their face as they push the button to open the boom!!

Make sure that you ALWAYS check that the money is in your account in full before releasing any goods to a “cash customer” and if they do deposit cheques, make sure that the cheque has been cleared by the bank before issuing the goods. Also check EFT deposits are actually in your bank account as we have seen a number of fake EFT deposits too!

City: Johannesburg

Country: South Africa