Mulalo Shandukani, a 45-year-old South African, has spent nearly three years fighting to clear his name after being a victim of identity theft. Fraudsters used his details to buy over R8,000 worth of blankets. Shandukani's ordeal began in 2023 when he applied for a bank loan but was told he was blacklisted by HomeChoice, a company he had never been a customer of.
Shandukani approached HomeChoice, and an investigation was conducted, which resulted in a Resolve Letter from HomeChoice in March 2024, confirming his innocence. The letter stated that Shandukani was not liable for the fraudulent purchases and that a request had been sent to the credit bureau to update his profile. However, the credit bureau informed Shandukani that it couldn't clear his name as HomeChoice had sold its debt book to Nimble Credit Solutions.
Shandukani then tried to get in touch with Nimble to clear his name but faced difficulties, with his emails and calls going unanswered for two years. He reached out to Sowetan Consumer for assistance, and they contacted Nimble Credit Solutions to explain his case. Within three hours, Nimble sent a request to the credit bureau authorizing the removal of Shandukani's name from the blacklist, exonerating him from the R8,062 debt.
Jackie Summers, the team manager at Nimble's customer care, sent an email to Sowetan, apologizing to Shandukani and stating that his issue had been resolved. She explained that the account in question was sold to Nimble in July 2023 and that they had received a complaint through the Council for Debt Collectors (CFDC).
Summers further stated that following their investigation and engagement with relevant parties, they confirmed that the account was fraudulently opened and instructed the credit bureaus to remove the Nimble listing from Shandukani's credit profile. Nimble apologized for the inconvenience caused to Shandukani.
Shandukani welcomed the outcome, expressing relief that the matter was finally resolved. However, he raised concerns about Nimble's automated consumer complaint responses and urged them to dedicate human resources to resolve issues efficiently.
Shandukani also encouraged the CFDC to be more visible and conduct education campaigns to assist citizens experiencing difficulties with debt collectors. The CFDC can be contacted on 012-804-9808 or [email protected] for complaints related to debt collectors.
Key points
- Mulalo Shandukani's name was cleared from the credit bureau blacklist after nearly three years.
- The issue was resolved after Sowetan Consumer intervened and contacted Nimble Credit Solutions.
- Shandukani urged Nimble to improve its complaint response system and the CFDC to increase visibility and education efforts.
