“But they put you in a panicked state and tell you that your SIM will be blocked if you don’t give them the OTP.
“I had a business virtual meeting coming up and with no electricity I had no wi-fi, so needed my phone data to attend the meeting, so I almost fell for it.”
Luckily she refused, which prompted the fraudster to lose his composure and start screaming at her, badgering her to give him the OTP.
And that’s a sure sign that the caller is not a legitimate bank staffer.
Apart from being totally unprofessional, they simply wouldn’t be emotionally or financially invested enough to lose their cool to that extent during such a phone call.
No matter how much of your personal information a caller has, do not answer any of their questions, and most definitely do not give them any numbers.
End the call and phone your bank, using the number you’ve pre-saved in your phone, to make sure your account is safe.
Take no chances with your alternative power service provider
A number of insurance companies have been urging consumers to check that alternative power source companies — and the products they supply — are legitimate before transacting, to avoid disaster.
If a homeowner does suffer any losses relating to the malfunctioning of such products a claim will only succeed if the installation was done by an accredited service provider, King Price Insurance warns.
And if you don’t have a certificate of compliance for your solar installation, for example, you’re on your own.
King Price Insurance’s client experience partner Wynand van Vuuren told me about a case where an incorrectly installed generator exploded, causing fatal injuries to their client.
The explosion also caused loss of, or damage to the generator, Wendy house, lawnmower, gas heaters, garden equipment and the pool pump.
“Due to the family’s trauma, we made a business decision to pay the claim without investigating it.”
In another case, an incorrectly-installed inverter was damaged in a power surge, causing loss of or damage to the inverter itself, TV, DStv Explora, PlayStation, fridge and router.
An investigation revealed that there were no SPD (surge protection device) fuses, the system wasn’t earthed, it had no battery disconnect and the wrong cable size was used.
“We’re within our rights not to pay the claim,” he said.
Do you store milk in the door of your fridge?
It’s the most convenient spot, so most of us do this, but according to Christine Leighton, who manages Milk SA’s consumer education project, your fridge door is the warmest spot in your fridge.
“Every time you open the fridge door you’re dragging everything stored there into what’s likely the hottest room in your house.
“Warmer temperatures and frequent fluctuations can put food at risk of spoiling, especially milk,” she said.
Renowned microbiologist and food safety expert Prof Lucia Anelich says refrigerated food, including milk, should be safe as long as the power is out for no more than four hours, the refrigerator door is kept shut and the fridge was running at 4°C at the time of load-shedding.
That’s a big ask for South Africans experiencing the double whammy of summer’s high temperatures and stage 6 load-shedding, which explains why so many are complaining of milk souring before its best-before date.
So where should you keep your milk? At the back of a fridge shelf. And then take a couple of ice bricks out of the freezer and wedge them next to the milk during blackouts.
Of course, your milk could already be spoiling by the time it gets to your kitchen, having been subjected to temperature increases, both in the supply chain and the time lapse from putting it into your trolley and stashing it in your fridge.
One risk reducing option is switching to UHT or “long life” milk, if the taste isn’t a deal breaker for you.
TIP: soured milk — before it reaches that clotted, solid taste — can be used for baking pancakes or scones instead of pouring it down the drain.
• GET IN TOUCH: You can contact Wendy Knowler for advice with your consumer issues via e-mail: consumer@knowler.co.za or on Twitter: @wendyknowler.
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
How to spot that scammer pretending to be calling from your bank
Ask yourself, why would the bank's fraud department need you to give them an OTP to prevent a fraudulent transaction?
A legit member of your bank or cellphone company’s fraud division won’t do this...
As you read this, quite a few people are on a cellphone call thinking they are talking to someone who works in their bank or cellphone company’s fraud department, warning them that someone is trying to commit fraud on their account.
The caller is actually a fraudster and they’re the ones who are about to commit the fraud, but they can’t do that unless their intended victim reads out the OTP (one-time-pin) that’s just been sent to their phone in order to authenticate the fraudulent transaction.
“It makes no sense, of course — why would a fraud department need you to give them an OTP in order to prevent a fraudulent transaction?” one almost-victim told me.
“But they put you in a panicked state and tell you that your SIM will be blocked if you don’t give them the OTP.
“I had a business virtual meeting coming up and with no electricity I had no wi-fi, so needed my phone data to attend the meeting, so I almost fell for it.”
Luckily she refused, which prompted the fraudster to lose his composure and start screaming at her, badgering her to give him the OTP.
And that’s a sure sign that the caller is not a legitimate bank staffer.
Apart from being totally unprofessional, they simply wouldn’t be emotionally or financially invested enough to lose their cool to that extent during such a phone call.
No matter how much of your personal information a caller has, do not answer any of their questions, and most definitely do not give them any numbers.
End the call and phone your bank, using the number you’ve pre-saved in your phone, to make sure your account is safe.
Take no chances with your alternative power service provider
A number of insurance companies have been urging consumers to check that alternative power source companies — and the products they supply — are legitimate before transacting, to avoid disaster.
If a homeowner does suffer any losses relating to the malfunctioning of such products a claim will only succeed if the installation was done by an accredited service provider, King Price Insurance warns.
And if you don’t have a certificate of compliance for your solar installation, for example, you’re on your own.
King Price Insurance’s client experience partner Wynand van Vuuren told me about a case where an incorrectly installed generator exploded, causing fatal injuries to their client.
The explosion also caused loss of, or damage to the generator, Wendy house, lawnmower, gas heaters, garden equipment and the pool pump.
“Due to the family’s trauma, we made a business decision to pay the claim without investigating it.”
In another case, an incorrectly-installed inverter was damaged in a power surge, causing loss of or damage to the inverter itself, TV, DStv Explora, PlayStation, fridge and router.
An investigation revealed that there were no SPD (surge protection device) fuses, the system wasn’t earthed, it had no battery disconnect and the wrong cable size was used.
“We’re within our rights not to pay the claim,” he said.
Do you store milk in the door of your fridge?
It’s the most convenient spot, so most of us do this, but according to Christine Leighton, who manages Milk SA’s consumer education project, your fridge door is the warmest spot in your fridge.
“Every time you open the fridge door you’re dragging everything stored there into what’s likely the hottest room in your house.
“Warmer temperatures and frequent fluctuations can put food at risk of spoiling, especially milk,” she said.
Renowned microbiologist and food safety expert Prof Lucia Anelich says refrigerated food, including milk, should be safe as long as the power is out for no more than four hours, the refrigerator door is kept shut and the fridge was running at 4°C at the time of load-shedding.
That’s a big ask for South Africans experiencing the double whammy of summer’s high temperatures and stage 6 load-shedding, which explains why so many are complaining of milk souring before its best-before date.
So where should you keep your milk? At the back of a fridge shelf. And then take a couple of ice bricks out of the freezer and wedge them next to the milk during blackouts.
Of course, your milk could already be spoiling by the time it gets to your kitchen, having been subjected to temperature increases, both in the supply chain and the time lapse from putting it into your trolley and stashing it in your fridge.
One risk reducing option is switching to UHT or “long life” milk, if the taste isn’t a deal breaker for you.
TIP: soured milk — before it reaches that clotted, solid taste — can be used for baking pancakes or scones instead of pouring it down the drain.
• GET IN TOUCH: You can contact Wendy Knowler for advice with your consumer issues via e-mail: consumer@knowler.co.za or on Twitter: @wendyknowler.
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
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