The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has warned those who receive, or are applying for, the R350 social relief of distress (SRD) grant to be careful who they share their personal details with, and to always check their contact details on the system are correct.
The agency issued a statement after its customer care unit in Mpumalanga received several calls from people who receive the grant, complaining that their contact details have been changed.
According to Sassa, there is a WhatsApp message circulating in which scammers are offering to assist people to complete their applications.
The scammers request the personal details of the person to whom they are speaking.
“By surrendering personal details to strangers, the scammers are able to change the contact details on behalf of applicants,” said Sassa.
Sassa warned those who are applying for the grant to complete their applications themselves.
“The agency is warning R350 grant beneficiaries to complete applications themselves or request help from a person they trust,” it said.
The agency’s official customer care team cannot change your contact details without you requesting the change.
The process of changing your contact details requires your ID number. Once you have provided that, you will receive an OTP number on your cellphone.
Entering the OTP number will allow you to update your contact details.
To verify or change your contact details you must log in to Sassa’s R350 grant website.
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