Zolisa Xaluva latest celebrity to fall victim to identity theft

While identity theft is a prosecutable offence in SA, the crime seems to be on the rise, especially on social media. The latest person to publicly declare falling victim to identity theft is local actor Zolisa Xaluva. 

Taking to Twitter, the Smoke & Mirrors actor revealed that there was a Twitter account using his name to scam people. According to some Twitter users who have allegedly been scammed, the verified account with the handle @RealZolisa has set up a WhatsApp based agency named Lakey Media, that promises to help people get TV jobs. Victims then send a fee to the agency and end up getting scammed. 

In the 45-second video, the actor set the record straight and said that he had no relation to the account or the media agency. He then asked victims to send him their proof of payments, so he could build a case against the person using his name for scams. 

“If you have fallen victim to this scam please send me any proof of payment that you’ve paid money into any account. Send it to my Instagram account or to @TallZo and maybe we can start to build some kind of a case,” he said before apologising to the people who were scammed. 

“I have no affiliation with Lakey Media, @RealZolisa is not my account even though it is verified. I have no connection to it or the person running it. If you’ve fallen victim, I sincerely apologise, please send me your proof and we can see what we can do.” 

Xaluva is not the first celebrity to fall victim to identity theft. Actress Bianca Coster has for the past two years been fighting a losing battle with the Twitter account, @ChrisExcel, which has over 2-million followers – for using her images as its profile picture.

"The first thing that people ask me is, 'Are you Chris Excel who posts these foul things on social media?'...  even my parents were called in by their bosses about the account. It truly hasn't been a pleasant experience," she recently told Sowetan. 

Although identity thieves always come up with smart ways to target their victims, according to technology journalist Toby Shapshak there are ways one can beef up their cyber security and protect themselves against online identity theft. 

“Good cybersecurity is one of the things that everybody should know about and practise,” he said. 

Here are ways you can practise good cyber security: 

1. Install security software on your computer and smartphone 

“Right now I use Kaspersky, which offers a single or multiple-device licence. Make sure you run daily scans and always keep it updated. Update Windows, Android, iOS, or any apps as soon as software updates (often called patches) are available. Hackers use known exploits to crack people’s security, often with ransomware, which would not be possible if the patches were installed to close the vulnerability,” Shapshak said. 

2. Never use the same password for more than one app or website 

“Stop trying to remember passwords and get a password manager. Apps like LastPass, 1Password, DashLane, and others create randomised passwords with capitals, symbols, and numbers and fill them in for you,” he said. 

Shapshack also recommends setting up two-factor authentification for all your apps. 

3. Never use any unsecured public WiFi without a VPN 

“It’s very easy to steal your login details and passwords this way. Like all things Big Tech gives away for free, you ultimately get charged a lot more than you ever imagined. NordVPN is good, as is Kaspersky’s app. Cybersecurity doesn’t have to be hard,” he said.