Payday usually brings many people joy, but it can also be the day that brings the devastating reality of being a victim of debit order abuse or fraud, as rogue companies or fraudsters wait for your payday to unlawfully debit from your bank account without your knowledge.

It is so unfortunate that this day may also be a payday for criminals, at your expense.

Debit order fraud and abuse have become major issues in this country in the past few years. This has seen a rise in fraud syndicates that abuse the debit order facility with banks struggling to protect monies from being stolen from individuals' accounts.

A number of people have seen several unauthorised debit orders of amounts ranging from R49, R55, R99, to R115, just to name a few, being debited from their bank accounts.

In some cases customers are only aware when SMSes inform them of these transactions. Sometimes only when they print statements, they realise that they have been defrauded. Not everyone is aware of these illegal transactions and thereby some bank account holders are victims of debit order fraud without their knowledge.

The CEO and Ombudsman for Banking Services, Reana Steyn, says rouge companies pounce on unsuspecting bank account holders and illegally debit funds every month as long as they are not noticed.

Steyn says what perpetuates this crime to remain undetected is the fact that few people regularly check their bank statements so as to report any suspicious transaction, and for that reason she is calling on consumers to religiously check bank statements.

She says once one notices fraudulent activity in their account, they need to contact the service provider in question and if that fails, they need to urgently report to the bank to advise the bank to reverse the funds. A consumer has the right to dispute or request a bank to reverse debit orders that they have not agreed to.

She says aggrieved customers can also escalate their complaints to Payments Association of South Africa (PASA) as well to her office, the Ombudsman for Banking Services.

The Ombudsman says the reason there is a low conviction rate of such crime is that consumers are still ignorant and not properly educated on how to manage their bank accounts. She also stressed that her office is doing its best to educate the public, citing radio and print as one of the platforms her office utilises.

SABC News