MultiChoice subscribers should be vigilant and careful and never give their personal details or banking details over the phone, through email or other sites, warns the pay television operator after a fake DStv phishing website was shut down days ago.
DStv subscribers and non-subscribers have been targeted in a fake phishing email scam seemingly from a MultiChoice employee, preying on unsuspecting people and trying to get them to disclose personal details on a fake DStv website and reveal their credit card details over email. Some subscribers received an email notifying them about a discrepancy and that their service would be suspended if they didn't verify and check their information. The email led them to the fake site that has now been shut down.
MultiChoice has sent SMS'es and email alerts to its more than 3 million subscribers warning them not to respond to requests to divulge their personal details. Subscribers who are registered on DStv's self-service website are urged to go and change their password on the real DStv website to prevent fraudsters from possibly accessing information. MultiChoice says:
MultiChoice will never ask for subscribers' personal details on email or via phone, unless a subscriber initiates a call to our call centre. If subscribers are not sure whether a request for information is legitimately from us, they should contact the call centre.
MultiChoice takes the safeguarding of our subscribers' personal information very seriously. This e-mail scam was not a breach of our database - both subscribers and non-subscribers received this e-mail. We suspect they used an external database.
We are also committed to work with the authorities in stopping these scams. In this case, the cybercrimes unit of SAPS acted quickly and shut down the fake website within two days.
