The fraudulent offer requests consumers to complete an ‘acceptance form’ and submit their bank details for a debit order deduction.

Piet van der Walt, Head: Sanlam Retail Credit and Transactional products, warns that such offers are not legitimate and are not linked to Sanlam.

“Sanlam’s loan offer is managed through Sanlam Personal Loans (Pty) Ltd, a registered credit provider. We will never ask consumers for an upfront payment in an application or to issue a loan. Whenever this happens consumers should see a red flag and call Sanlam Personal Loans on 0861 44 00 44. The call will be escalated to the fraud department and relevant law enforcements agencies will be notified.”

Van der Walt says sophisticated crime syndicates have, in the past, tried to exploit the challenging economic climate by tempting people with low interest loans.

Sanlam’s Forensic Investigation unit is aware of the fraudulent scam and is working closely with the police.

Consumers can refer to the following checklist to try and avoid falling into a trap:

• Sanlam will never ask a client for any upfront payment to process a loan application.
• Spelling and linguistic errors in communication with clients may indicate a scam invitation.
• Some scams may even use the names of actual employees of the brand and have people who answer their telephones.
• If people are uncertain about whether or not a loan invitation is legitimate, they can verify the invitation by calling the Sanlam Personal Loans call centre at 0861 44 00 44 or visit the Sanlam website at https://www.sanlam.co.za/personal/personalloans