SARS tax refund scam: South Africans lose thousands to fraudsters

SCORES of taxpayers have come forward claiming to be victims of an alleged scam where their refunds from the taxman ended up in bogus accounts opened using their details.

In the past four weeks, this reporter was inundated by emails from the victims describing how their rebates mysteriously ended up in bank accounts they knew nothing about.

The latest complainants came up almost daily since an expose on February 16 on how 68-year-old Jairaj Sathdav lost his R37 000 rebate that the South African Revenue Service (SARS) deposited into TymeBank account, which he did not open. The money was completely wiped out of the account by the person allegedly impersonating him.

TymeBank head of Operational Risk and Fraud, George Wandsella, confirmed that Sathdav reported the fraudulent account with the bank, and “we subsequently provided him with documentation to present to SARS on the matter”.

The victims fell into the fraudsters’ trap after visiting SARS branches nationwide to submit tax returns and were told thousands of rand were due to them.

During the filling in of tax return forms, which they did with the help of SARS consultants, taxpayers would submit, among other details, their authentic bank accounts in which the money should be deposited.

Sathdav submitted his Standard Bank account, but the money was deposited into a fictitious TymeBank account.

Faceless scammers also got away with R35 000, which SARS had promised to deposit into the Absa account belonging to Keneuoe Sihlongonyane from Gauteng early last year.

Since she had been overtaxed in the past, Sihlongonyane was first promised that filing tax returns would make her R75 000 richer. However, after doing so, she was informed that just R35 000 would be deposited into her account in three days.

“After three days without money coming in, I called them, and I was told that I was paid through a Capitec account, which I did not know about.

“My SARS refund would over the years go into my Absa account,” she said.

She inquired with Capitec about the account, and upon realising that the account belonged to someone else, a bank official advised her to open a case with the police.

“She (Capitec consultant) said she could only give me access to bank statements once I opened a fraud case, but police said they could not open a case without me having proof that the money was deposited into the account with my personal details.

“The matter remains unsolved,” she said.

Instead, Sihlongonyane was shocked when she received an SMS informing her that she owed SARS over R39 000. 

She said she started receiving the stressful SMSes in January. 

“The last one came in this morning (March 6), and it was the fourth one,” said Sihlongonyane. 

Part of the latest message she received read: “Kindly settle the full amount immediately or go on eFiling to initiate a payment arrangement.”

She said that as a bank employee, she was not earning enough to be able to pay R39 000, which she claimed she did not know anything about. 

“I am so stressed; some people even suggested that I go for therapy. I did not get my money (tax refund), but I am made to pay. 

“I am damaged because I don’t have that kind of money. I just need justice,” she said. 

SARS spokesperson Siphithi Sibeko requested Sihlongonyane’s details for an investigation. 

“We are running the most efficient system in the country, I can vouch that we are not shortchanging,” he said.

However, a written response to questions emailed to the SARS communication unit read: “SARS officials may not disclose taxpayer information to a third party, and this includes possible investigations against a taxpayer.”   

When contacted on February 25, Capitec requested to be given three days to prepare a response. 

Boikanyo Mathobela, 42, from Kimberley, was shocked to learn that R7 500, which was due to him from SARS, was wrongly paid to TymeBank despite having submitted his Capitec account for the money to be deposited.

A SARS consultant advised Mathobela to obtain an affidavit and open a fraud case at the Kimberly police station.

On returning to the SARS branch with the case number and affidavit, he was promised that the matter would be investigated, but that never happened.

“Since then, I've been doing so many follow-ups through SARS only to be told they do not have access to see the progress of the case, which is with the fraud department.

“There is no turnaround time to resolve the matter; it can take forever,” said Mathobela.

He felt that taxpayers’ money was not safe with SARS.

“It is clear that there is a loophole in their systems for syndicates to do fraudulent activities. I'm starting to think that there's a possibility that it might also be an inside job,” said Mathobela.

Pieter Schalkwyk said that when he realised the mistake, he quickly approached TymeBank, which immediately shut down the account.

“During August-October, someone inside SARS created another TymeBank account in my name and claimed R184 000 in my name.

“I know this because my tax consultant saw it a few times happening and proactively stopped it,” said Schalkwyk.

He said he reported the matter to SARS without help to recover the money.

“The FICA (Financial Intelligence Centre) ombud came back to me a few months later to advise me that SARS is a government department and they cannot assist me as well.

“Since 6 July, I have spent more than 22 hours on the telephone (excluding the 25 times the line dropped and I had to call again and explain everything again...) to get some info, just to be told that my profile is flagged as fraudulent,” he said.

SARS officials met Sathdav on February 19.

“We were not able to get much out of SARS. They said somebody logged into the system and changed banking details.

“They now want us to pursue TymeBank,” said Sathdav’s son Vinall.

Wandsella, who blamed SARS’s security systems, admitted some fraudulent activities were due to TymeBank opening accounts without biometric verification, which was a common and legal practice among banks whose intention was to promote financial inclusion, “especially for those vulnerable members of our communities who do not have all the necessary documentation or physical ability required to open a normal bank account”.