The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) is specifically asking individuals between the ages of 18 and 59 to verify that their personal information has not been compromised. This comes in response to an increase in fraudulent activity involving the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant.
Sassa has confirmed that individuals are being paid SRD grants without having applied for them, suggesting that their personal information may have been stolen. The agency is encouraging people to contact Sassa to verify whether their identity has been misused.
If you are between 18 and 59 years old and have not applied for the COVID-19 SRD grant, please contact Sassa at 0800 60 10 11 or email [email protected] to check if your identity has been compromised.
Fraud Detection in the SRD Grant System
In October, two Stellenbosch University students uncovered significant fraud within the SRD grant payment system. Their research revealed that fraudsters are exploiting citizens' identities to apply for and receive SRD grants.
Their findings highlighted several key issues:
Identity Theft: Fraudsters are using stolen identities to create fake bank accounts and apply for SRD grants.
- High Application Rate: An unusually high number of SRD grant applications were associated with individuals born in February 2005, indicating possible large-scale fraudulent activity.
- Campus Survey: A survey of Stellenbosch University students revealed that a significant number had fraudulent SRD grant applications filed in their names.
- At the time, Sassa acknowledged the existence of fraud within its system but argued that the students' findings did not fully consider the agency's ongoing efforts to combat it.
Sassa has reportedly implemented several security measures, including advanced algorithms to detect suspicious applications and enhanced identity verification processes that incorporate facial recognition and one-time password (OTP) checks.
These measures have led to approximately 2 million SRD grant applications being flagged for further verification.
While Sassa views this as a positive step, critics argue that these security measures may be challenging for vulnerable citizens who lack access to the required technology.
The students and civil society groups have called for a more comprehensive overhaul of the SRD system, recommending either stricter application verification or a complete system rebuild. They have also expressed concerns about the reliance on biometric verification, arguing that it places an unnecessary burden on citizens.
