Absa *****

On 27 January 2026 I received a call from a landline number from a woman who identified herself as an ABSA representative. She did not ask for my personal details but instead confirmed information already on record, including my ID number. This created the impression that the call was legitimate.

She informed me that my credit card limit increase had been approved, which aligned with a recent legitimate increase on my account. She further stated that, as a reward for consistent credit card payments, I qualified for a grocery voucher that would be credited to my account. I was advised that no personal or card details were required and that I only needed to approve a prompt on the ABSA banking app under the rewards channel.

On the app a pop-up notification appeared requesting approval, with only two options: “Approve” or “Decline.” Believing this to be a legitimate ABSA rewards authorization, i selected “Approve.”

Immediately after this approval, multiple unauthorised transactions occurred on my account: four transactions of R2,400 each and one transaction of R35,599.

When the original landline number was called back, the same woman answered and apologised, claiming that a trainee had made an error while processing the rewards voucher and that the funds were mistakenly deducted. Shortly thereafter, I received another call from a different landline number from a woman claiming to be from ABSA’s ***** department. She referenced the exact amounts debited and stated she was opening a ***** case. She requested confirmation of the last four digits of my card. Feeling uneasy and wanting to ensure my account’s safety, I declined to provide any information and immediately went to an ABSA branch to report the incident.

I find it concerning that such large amounts could be debited from my account without the expiry date, CVV, or any online card usage on my part. I have never used my ABSA card for online transactions, and my experience with other banks requires full card verification for any such payments. Additionally, the callers’ prior knowledge of my personal details and recent credit limit increase indicates access to information that appeared to originate from within the banking system. I confirm that at no point did I knowingly authorise these transactions or provide sensitive card information, and I acted promptly to report the matter once the unauthorised debits occurred.