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07 October 2013

Beware of potential fraudsters, warns Telkom

Criminals are targeting unsuspecting Telkom customers with the aim of either defrauding them of cash or acquiring their personal details or internet usernames and passwords under false pretexts.

"The latest modus operandi that fraudsters are using to target our customers and the public at large, involves a phishing scam via email," cautions Thokozani Mvelase, Telkom's Group Executive for Enterprise Risk Management.

"These illegal activities have been going on for quite some time. After warning the public about them previously, we noticed a significant drop in Telkom customers being targeted. However, some of these activities seem to be on the rise again and we hope that the public will be extremely vigilant about any attempts to defraud them," he explains.

The scam that has recently surfaced sees fraudsters e-mailing Telkom's customers the following:

Attention

Notification from Telkom SA hard office Account department, Our apologies for the inconveniences, kindly send us your last three months Telkom bills. As there is a mistake over billing (charge) some of our clients. As well state your last payment paid to us. Kindly scan the copy and send it back to us by e-mail, if on your mail forward it to us.

Thanks For Your Corporation
Jabulane Mabuza.

The emails appear to be sent from the following email address "account.department@telkom.co.za". Investigation has revealed that the said email address used by the hoaxer is linked to a private "Gmail" email account that does not belong to Telkom. The Company will investigate further to locate the actual source of these fraudulent emails. "I urge the public to be extremely vigilant if they receive emails similar to these, especially if it is followed up with phone calls requesting banking details for refund purposes," emphasises Mvelase.

"Telkom does not conduct its business this way. We would never ask customers to send us their statements - we have that already. Also, reimbursements are not credited into our customers' bank accounts. In the event of a credit, Telkom passes it on to the customers' telephone account for the next month," explains Mvelase.

He adds that internet users should always be mindful of a wide array of phishing scams. Phishing is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and banking and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.

Mvelase emphasises that customers must be very suspicious if they receive unsolicited calls or emails. "Remember, usernames and passwords are unique and must be kept confidential at all times. Otherwise, you run the risk of bandwidth theft or outside parties accessing your emails. This becomes extremely serious if access to your mailing system is abused for fraudulent or criminal ends."

Finally, if members of the public are suspicious or unsure if requests are legitimate or not, they are urged to contact Telkom's fraud hotline on 0800 124 000 or their nearest police station.

For further enquiries, please contact:

Pynee Chetty

Senior Specialist: Media Relations

Group Communication

Tel:+27 12 642 1716

Mobile: +27 81 389 7874

Email: chettpr2@telkom.co.za

OR

Leigh-Ann Francis

Specialist: Media Relations

Group Communication

Tel: +27 12 642 1728

Mobile: +27 81 391 4780

Email: francilm@telkom.co.za

Telkom Park, The Apex

92 Oak Avenue

Technopark

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ABOUT TELKOM:

Telkom is a leading communications services provider in South Africa. We had consolidated operating revenue of R16.8 billion and normalised profit after tax of R1, 683 million for the period ended 30 September 2015. Total assets amounted to R41.9 billion and equity attributable to the owners of Telkom to R23.5 billion as of 30 September 2015. The group generated normalised free cash flow of R1.4 billion for the period ended 30 September 2015.

As of 30 September 2015, we had approximately 3.3 million telephone access lines in service and 1,030,441 ports connected via MSAN access. We offer business, residential and payphone customers a wide range of services and products, including:

  • fixed-line retail voice services using PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) lines, including ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) lines, and the sale of subscription based value-added voice services and calling plans;
  • fixed-line customer premises equipment rental and sales services both voice and data needs and these include PABX, Computers, Routers, Modems, Telephone handsets and other ancillary equipment;
  • interconnection services, including terminating and transiting traffic from South African mobile operators, as well as from international operators and transiting traffic from mobile to international destinations;
  • fixed-line data services, including domestic and international data transmission services, such as point-to-point leased lines, ADSL (Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line) services, packet-based services, managed data networking services and internet access and related information technology services;
  • Data Centre Operations includes e-commerce, application service provider, hosting, data storage, e-mail and security services;
  • W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), a 3G next generation network, including fixed voice services, data services and nomadic voice services;
  • mobile communication services, including voice services, data services and handset sales through our mobile navbar-brand called Telkom Mobile;
  •  information and communication services including cloud services, infrastructure services, workspace services, global service integration management and hardware and network equipment sales locally, in seven African countries, the UK and Dubai through Business Connexion Group; and
  • other services including directory services, through Trudon (Pty) Ltd, wireless data services, through Swiftnet (Pty) Ltd.

Convergence is one of our key strategic initiatives in building a sustainable future for Telkom.  We will lead the provision of converged services in South Africa in support of our mission statement: Seamlessly connecting people to a better life.