FNB warns of increased fraud risk

The bank says cyber criminals exploit digital wallet users with sophisticated phishing attacks to lure them into giving away critical personal information.

Phishing and smishing attacks trick users into providing sensitive information.

Criminals are increasingly targeting digital wallet users with sophisticated phishing attacks exploiting consumers unaware of the potential risks.

Phishing and smishing attacks trick users into providing sensitive information such as login credentials, passwords, PINs, card details, or ID numbers. Criminals have realised that loading a debit or credit card onto a digital wallet is similar to making an online payment, and they are using this similarity to confuse unsuspecting users into providing the necessary information.

FNB head of card transaction and fraud detection Christopher Boxall said these attacks aimed to convince users to provide compromising information that allowed criminals to load physical card details onto their digital wallets.

“We’re seeing a rise in attacks that aim to convince users to send through an OTP as part of a fraudulent process. Although the wording for online transactions and digital wallet OTPs differs, the user might not notice this OTP will be used to verify the loading of their debit or credit card to a completely separate digital wallet. Once the criminal has loaded this card to their device, they can use their biometrics to verify transactions made from the device,” Boxall said.

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Boxall added FNB had implemented a multi-layered approach to mitigate the risk of fraud, including stipulated OTPs and warning messages to clarify the use of OTPs.

“The bank also has a sophisticated rules-based model to identify possibly fraudulent activity and prevent suspicious transactions. However, maintaining strict security around one’s personal and private information is the most important action we can take to prevent malicious attacks.

“Any payment technology relies on a certain amount of private information known only to the user. We must remain vigilant, protect this information, and safeguard our digital identities.”