Insurance scam to be prevented in South Africa

[img_assist|nid=8438|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=168|height=112] US-based Clickatell is providing South African insurer, Santam, with mobile phone messaging technology to enable a text-based fraud reporting system.

People using the system will be able to anonymously report to Santam about an insurance scam via an SMS text message.

As per Clickatell, the text message infrastructure allows Santam to react quickly and appropriately upon reported incidents, driving the probability of fraudulent or false claims being paid out to a minimum level.

"We expect our text-based fraud tip line to become the de facto standard across the insurance industry. We expect it will be an efficient and reliable form of communications as the immediate nature of SMS is providing us with the ability to quickly act on fraud tips and maintain high levels of service. We anticipate that it will evolve from receiving text only messages to also be able to receive photos and video clips of unethical behaviour as they occur," says Jerry Chetty, head of forensic services, Santam.