Johannesburg, 14 Feb 2008
Software distributor Workgroup has been forced to step up its security measures after discovering a fraudulent transaction on a customer account, possibly being perpetrated by former employees of the company's resellers.
Workgroup MD Doug Woolley warns in an e-mail sent out to customers that turnaround times could be slowed down as a result of the additional measures.
"It is sad to me that we have to send out mails like this and we ask that you bear with us if your collections are slowed as a result of extra process," the e-mail reads.
According to Woolley, it has come to the company's attention that a fraudulent transaction took place on one reseller's account, and it raised the alarm, as "smaller resellers are usually harder hit by this kind of thing.
"We realise that previous employees who know the system could be capable of undertaking this type of (fraudulent) activity," he says, explaining that this is why it has been brought to customers' attention.
Additional security measures being introduced by Woolley include the provision of some kind of identification document by people collecting products, which is to be copied and kept on file.
Woolley says a verification system is in the process of being developed, which will use electronic measures to identify people and question them on a random basis. He did not want to disclose further details about the system, only saying it is being tested internally at the moment.
However, he stresses, the measures will only impact clients who collect products, saying the majority of the company's goods are in fact delivered.
Woolley would not comment on the value of the fraudulent transaction, but described it as a "small incident".
Workgroup is part of JSE-listed Pinnacle Technology Holdings.
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