South Africa is reportedly one of the most targeted countries when it comes to online fraudsters trying to get their hands on your personal details.
With the festive season upon us, it is vital that you know what should you look out for and how can you protect yourself?
Two of the most common scams are:
• Phishing (pronounced ‘fishing’), which are e-mail scams.
• Smishing, which are SMS-scams.
Both are a kind of identity theft as criminals try to get you to reveal your personal data, most commonly passwords, pin numbers, user names, banking account details or other information that will enable them to steal your money or make fraudulent transactions.
Targets will receive an e-mail, SMS or instant message that appears to come from a bank or other legitimate business. You’re asked to click on a link or download an attachment.
The link will direct you to a fraudulent website, which looks genuine. Here you’ll be asked to provide details which are used to access your accounts. Attachments contain a virus or malware which criminals use to access your computer and all your personal information.
The varieties of scams are vast and as soon as the public is warned about one, the next is already launched.
Marlies Kappers, DirectAxis head of marketing, warns not to assume an email is legitimate just because it carries a logo, a company registration number or other details such as a head-office address. Many fraudulent e-mails look like the real thing.
“Not all phishing and smishing involves getting your account details or luring you into making a payment. Some scams only try to get enough information to be able to open a fraudulent store, online shopping or loan account. Again the request for information usually seems reasonable – a financial institution, retailer or online shop asking you to confirm some information.
Identify theft scams can be more difficult to spot because they don’t seem to be asking for sensitive information, but be suspicious of e-mails asking for details that a company should already have. Be extra suspicious if the request comes from one with which you’ve never done business.
