A group of fraudsters is using a common cheque scam to try and fleece unsuspecting people and businesses by claiming to have mistakenly deposited money into their bank accounts.
The syndicate has attempted to rob 14 people or businesses in less than a week.
A Cape Town man, Peter Brinkley, said he received a call from "a Lawrence" in Johannesburg on Friday saying he was from Telkom.
The caller told him he had intended depositing a R3 238 refund into his account but had mistakenly deposited a R48 200 cheque and could he please return the money to a Telkom account with FNB.
Brinkley, who banks with Standard Bank, said he quickly alerted his bank manager. When they checked his account the cheque, which had been stopped, was from a company called Southline Chemicals in Johannesburg.
He said he had received a number of calls from the scammers pleading with him to return the money. "I don't know where they got my cellphone number or my account details from."
He was also concerned that the bank was not interested in informing the police or taking down the contact number the scammer was using, to try to track them down.
A spokesperson from Southline Chemicals in Johannesburg told the Weekend Argus they had had a smash-and-grab last week and one of their chequebooks was stolen.
They had stopped the cheques as they registered in their accounts and about 14 unsuspecting people and various businesses had been targeted by the scammers.
The amounts they tried to fleece them of had varied from R30 000 to R60 000.
Eric Larsen of Standard Bank said the series of incidents sounded like the "classic cheque scam" that was perpetrated by people purporting to have mistakenly deposited money into someone's account.
"These criminals are luring unsuspecting customers into refunding 'incorrect' amounts deposited into their banking accounts."
He said the caller would request that the account holder refund the amount and fax proof of payment. The "proof" was either a copy of a deposit slip or an altered internet banking payment confirmation.
The narration on the bank statement would show the transaction as a "cheque deposit" and not an "internet banking payment".
Customers were lured into refunding the money electronically, resulting in a loss of funds following the reversal of the fraudulent deposit by a bank.
He said the onus was on the company or the customer involved to inform the police and lay a charge.
Larsen said: "Where cheques are deposited, ensure they are legitimate. Request a special clearance on cheque deposits. Do not accede to any requests. Verify with your bank if the transaction is valid. It is possible the cheque deposited has been stolen. Do not refund any monies until the cheque is cleared.
"Check that the proof of payment and your statement details tie up and reflect the same reference details.
"Never accept a notification of this nature as proof of deposit, rather obtain written verification from your bank before taking any action."
He said while the internet offers convenient access to services such as shopping and banking, it also holds risks to the security of personal information and money.
One such risk is "phishing", used by criminals in ever-changing ways to ultimately take your money.
The most recent phishing scam involved Simcard swaps and online banking fraud.
The scam involves hijacking cellphone numbers through fraudulent Sim swaps to receive one-time-passwords sent by banks to transact online.
Police bust an alleged nationwide syndicate in Johannesburg recently. Over 160 fraudulent Simcard swaps were reported by cell operators and police estimate that at least R2-million has been stolen in more than 30 cases they have investigated so far.