Sanlam has warned members of the public against sophisticated crime syndicates who are exploiting the current challenging economic climate by tempting people with low interest loans. One such scheme makes fraudulent use of Sanlam’s brand and purports to be an offer from Sanlam Loans.

The scam uses legitimate-looking emails which promise unsuspecting victims loans in exchange for their personal information and request an advance fee for the release of the loan, says Ahmed Banderker, Chief Executive: Strategic Business Development at Sanlam. “Sanlam will never ask for any up-front payment of any costs to process a loan application,” he adds.

Known as the “advance fee scam” the operation is sophisticated in that it uses email addresses that look similar to those of reputable financial institutions. They may even use the names of actual employees and have staff to answer telephones. However, the emails are often badly formulated with spelling and grammatical errors.

Sanlam has therefore requested members of the public to be extra vigilant and carefully check all emails and text communications from financial institutions. “These scams are becoming more sophisticated and consumers need to raise their level of awareness and be alert to anything that may on the surface appear to be legitimate. Remember, if it is too good to be true, it probably is,” says Banderker.

This latest spate of loan scams has been escalated to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (The Hawks) for further investigation.