A millennium bug scam is doing the rounds with fraudsters playing on people's fears that they will lose their money when the clock ticks over to the year 2000.
David Funck, group Information Technology manager of Gallo Africa, told Personal Finance that a friend of his received a call from someone pretending to represent a bank.
The caller said the bank was having difficulty meeting requirements to be computer ready for the millennium. He said all the bank's customers would need to transfer their accounts to a bond account specially designed to protect their money until the bank could be fully Y2K compliant.
He said that to verify that he was speaking to the proper account holder he needed to confirm information about Funck and his account numbers, asking for verbal authorisation to transfer funds to the specially designed account.
When Funck asked him which bank he represented, the caller hung up.
Standard Bank's Erik Larsen says the bank is aware of the scam.
The scam apparently originated in the United States.
"Our advice to customers is not to be taken in by these scams. As the millennium approaches we suspect more and more of these types of scams will emerge, capitalising on people's uncertainty.
"Customers should under no circumstances disclose their account details to anyone claiming to represent their bank. In fact, the bank has these details on file and it's not necessary to obtain them from the customer. If in doubt, customers should contact their bank to check if it has been making any Y2K enquiries."
Absa's Nick Cairns says of all industries, the banking industry is well ahead with its Y2K compliance programmes and will most definitely be ready to face the millennium, with any hitches to customers' accounts.
If you have any worries about the millennium bug, contact the local branch of your bank. And visit your bank's website for further information on its Y2K programme.