Sabric reports increase in banking crime incidents

THE South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC), on behalf of the banking industry, released its annual crime stats for 2020, yesterday (September 28).

Covid-19, in conjunction with the implementation of regulations of the Disaster Management Act, had a notable influence on financial crime trends in 2020. It triggered changes in human behaviour, human movement, policing and created new opportunities for criminals that significantly impacted the number of crime incidents, said SABRIC.

READ ALSO: Sabric tallies cost of banking infrastructure damaged during civil unrest

While some crimes decreased, others increased as criminals exploited Covid-19 for their own gain.

Overall, SABRIC was an increase in banking crime incidents. As customers turned to online shopping and settling payments on apps, criminals enhanced their efforts to phish customers. These criminals stole personal data to defraud users on digital and online platforms.

• Digital banking fraud increased by 33%.
• Debit card fraud rose by 22% while, on a positive note, credit card fraud decreased by 7%.
• Contact crime was impacted by the restriction of movement and visible policing. This resulted in a decrease in incidents.
• Associated robberies saw a decrease of 24% in 2020 when compared to 2019 with decreases evident in the Free State, the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga
• ATM attacks decreased by 9%, overall, while ATM explosive incidents increased by 20%.
• Cash-in-transit (CIT) robberies decreased significantly due to the Level 5 lockdown in April and May of 2020. Once the restrictions were lifted, SABRIC noted these crimes increased by 22%.
• Robberies and burglaries also increased by 42% and 12%, respectively.

“Your personal data, when combined with technology has become the new key to the safe that holds your money in a bank. You must safeguard your data to prevent criminals getting access to your safe,” said SABRIC’s CEO Nischal Mewalall.

Mewalall warned that, looking ahead, cybercrime and data breaches would represent a significant threat to customers and banks.

Mewalall also warned bank customers to never click on links in unsolicited emails as they are used in phishing emails to drive people to “spoofed” websites that look similar to legitimate online retailers.

“Criminals use these bogus websites to harvest bank card details to make online purchases using your account. We are still seeing lots of scam’s advertising seemingly incredible deals for personal protective equipment, sanitiser and fake vaccines that exploit people’s concern for their health and safety.” adds Mewalall.