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Criminals can use your personal information to steal your identity, your money, and commit fraud. It’s very important to keep your personal details such as your name, ID number and medical information out of the hands of criminals. With help from 1Life Insurance’s forensics department, we share how 1Life protects your information and what you can do to avoid scams and prevent your information from falling into a criminal’s inbox or cellphone!
1Life Insurance protects your information
We have strict security measures and invest in the latest high tech security systems to make sure your information is safe.
Protecting your personal information
The personal information you share with 1Life includes personal details about you, where you live, your contact details and your ID number, as well as your medical history. To protect this 1Life Insurance:
- Stores information on a secure database
- Restricts access to your personal information, including your medical information - only authorised staff members can access your information if they have a valid reason
- Tracks who accesses your information - every time your information is accessed the details are recorded so we know who accessed what information, when and where
- Conducts regular and ad hoc audits - we review and audit our operational and security systems and have an independent party audit our processes and security protocols
If you've got a question our client services consultants are here to help. Leave your details and we will call you back.
Protecting your bank account details
Insurers need your bank account information to deduct premiums and pay claims. We know how important it is to keep these details secure, and to pay claims to the correct beneficiary. There are two security measures we use to ensure this.
- Account verification - we validate bank details with external parties to ensure that the bank account details given do in fact belong to the life assured, premium payer or beneficiary, so we debit premiums, and/or pay claims to the correct person.
- Limited access to bank account details - only staff with the necessary authority level can access your bank details. If staff can view your personal details but don’t need to see your bank details for any policy or insurance related purpose, your bank details won’t be visible to them.
Fraud prevention
1Life Insurance has an active forensics team who focus on detecting and preventing insurance fraud, from application stage to claims. Insurance fraud includes someone taking out a policy in another person’s name or for a deceased person, or changing a beneficiary on a policy, all for the purposes of benefitting from the policy by receiving the pay-out. Our experts work in the field and conduct desktop investigations to prevent insurance fraud to ensure your policy benefits you and your loved ones and not a criminal.
How you can protect your information and avoid scams
Criminals are always looking for ways to get you to part with your information. This means you need to be cautious when sharing information. Here are some tips from our experts on how you can keep your information safe when dealing with 1Life or any other business:
Contacting 1Life or managing your policies online
When you contact 1Life or manage your policies online or on WhatsApp, you can check certain details to make sure you are dealing with 1Life Insurance and not a criminal.
- Make sure the website you are using is a 1Life website with the domain 1Life.co.za
- Check that emails about your policy come from a 1Life address - 1Life.co.za
- Check that 1Life phone numbers you dial, such as a claims number, as well as the WhatsApp service centre, are those on the website or your policy documents and not obtained anywhere else
- Login to the online policyholder service portal on the 1Life website, not on a link given in an email, and make sure you receive an OTP to access the portal
- Expect security questions from 1Life when you call in, which are asked so we can be sure it is the policyholder we are speaking to
When 1Life calls you
You will need to use your discretion when we call you because there is no fool proof way to prove a caller’s identity (yet!). But there should always be a valid reason for the call. For example, you entered a 1Life competition and gave your details, or you enquired about or requested a quote for a policy, bought a policy online, or requested a call me back. If the call is completely unexpected, don’t give out your personal information.
These tips and advice can help you decide whether or not to share your information:
- The call should come soon after you first interacted with 1Life – we will call you back soon after your contact with us
- The 1Life consultant will talk you through various legal disclaimers
- The discussion and information requested will relate to the purpose of the call and be appropriate for the product you have or are interested in, for example asking medical history for life insurance applications
- 1Life consultants will have some of your details such as full name and contact details
Remember to: make a note of the date and time of the call, the number it came from and the name of the consultant calling you.
Further security measures you can take
These are basic checks you can complete once a month to make sure your policy information is safe and that there has been no unusual or criminal activity.
- Check your policy details – make sure nothing has changed and that all your personal details, including beneficiary details, are still correct. You can log in to the online policyholder service portal to check these or use our WhatsApp service centre.
- Check your bank account and bank statements to make sure no unauthorised debit orders for a 1Life policy have been deducted off your account.
- Check your credit record – this will show if there are any other insurance premiums coming off your account.
If you suspect fraud related to your 1Life policy
Take action – as soon as possible!
Tell 1Life and we will see if we can assist and investigate, and/or refer you to the correct authority. You should also report the fraud to:
- The SAPS (South African Police Service)
- The South African Insurance Crime Bureau
- The SAFPS (Southern African Fraud Prevention Service) (if your identity has been stolen or used for criminal purposes), which will alert financial services providers including banks that you have been a victim of ID theft
Be slow to share personal information
Making it hard to access your personal information is a big deterrent to criminals who prefer easy targets. We follow strict security measures to keep your information safe and are constantly reviewing and updating these. Think before you share information and make sure you know who you are sharing information with, and you can avoid many scams and frauds.
