You need to be on the alert for "smishing", where scamsters send SMSs to your cellphone to get you to reveal personal information, thereby gaining access to your bank account.
If you get an SMS asking for verification of your banking details, or referring to a one-time password (OTP), do not respond to it . Immediately contact your bank to query it.
Smishing examples are:
- "Dear client, we require you to send the first and second OTP numbers you received on your phone via SMS to 07#72£65. This is required by the South African Police to verify your bank account that is attached to your mobile phone number. You will be prosecuted if you don't send it immediately."
- "Your OTP has been changed to 08#2134890. Contact 07#6134121 if you did not effect the change."