Victim of toll gate fraud? Your bank MUST reimburse you!
Are you still handing your credit card to a toll booth operator at toll plazas? If so, you might want to reconsider how you pay.
Credit Card, paying with a card / Pixabay: AhmadArdity
Relebogile Mabotja interviews Consumer Journalist Wendy Knowler.
Listen below.
In late July, Horacio Cossa discovered a troubling issue when his FNB credit card statement revealed two unauthorised charges totalling R685 at the Machadadorp toll plaza.
The charges were for a large truck, but Cossa doesn’t own or drive one.
After reporting the fraudulent transactions to FNB and being assured that his card was cancelled, Cossa was shocked to find another fraudulent charge of R343 at the Middleburg toll plaza, also for a truck.
The fraudulent toll fees continued to accumulate, eventually totalling R5,000.
Meanwhile, Cossa was inundated with calls, texts, and emails from FNB’s collections department demanding payment.
The situation worsened when he noticed similar fraudulent transactions on his cheque account, including four more charges at Machadadorp, bringing his total losses to over R7,000.
He returned to the bank, where he was informed that the new cases would be added to the initial ones and that the fraud investigation could take up to 30 working days.
Cossa told Knowler: “In the meantime, all I can do is wait while the fraudsters are smiling all the way to the bank.”
Senzo Nsibande, CEO of FNB Card, explained to Knowler that the fraud Cossa experienced is often the result of customers’ cards being cloned or skimmed by fraudsters using magstripe terminals at toll gates.
To mitigate this risk, Nsibande recommends using the Tap-to-Pay functionality, which has been implemented at toll gates across the country. This contactless payment method helps prevent card cloning and skimming.
Most importantly, all customers affected by toll gate fraud will be reimbursed.
"They have to do that, because we as bank customers can only be held responsible if we are liable in any way."
- Wendy Knowler, Consumer journalist
Additionally, Nsibande noted that industry discussions were ongoing with toll gate operators and their concessionaires, to accelerate the transition to contactless payments and phase out the magstripe solution.
Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.