Follow these tips to help protect yourself and your money

Sabric, the South African Banking Risk Information Centre, revealed in its latest report how combined gross card fraud losses on South African issued cards saw an 18 per cent increase from 2017 to 2018.

This totals R873 394 351, with credit card fraud increasing by 18.4 per cent and debit card fraud increasing by 17.5 per cent.

In light of these findings, Sabric urges one to be your money’s best protection by following these tips:

 Protecting your personal information

• Don’t use the same username and password for access to banking and social media platforms.
• Avoid sharing or having joint social media accounts.
• Be cautious about what you share on social media.
• Activate your security settings which restrict access to your personal information.
• Don’t carry unnecessary personal information in your wallet or purse.
• Don’t disclose personal information such as passwords and PINs when asked to do so by anyone via telephone, fax or even email.
• Don’t write down PINs and passwords and avoid obvious choices like birth dates and first names.
• Don’t use any personal identifiable information as a password, user ID or personal identification number (PIN).
• Don’t use Internet Cafes or unsecure terminals (hotels, conference centers etc.) to do your banking.
• Use strong passwords for all your accounts.
• Change your password regularly and never share them with anyone else.
• Store personal and financial documentation safely. Always lock it away.
• Keep PIN numbers and passwords confidential.
• Verify all requests for personal information and only provide it when there is a legitimate reason to do so.
• To prevent your ID being used to commit fraud if it is ever lost or stolen, alert the SA Fraud Prevention Service immediately on 0860 101 248 or at www.safps.org.za.
• Ensure that you have a robust firewall and install antivirus software to prevent a computer virus sending out personal information from your computer.
• When destroying personal information, either shred or burn it (do not tear or put it in a garbage or recycling bag).
• Should your ID or driver’s license be stolen report it to SAPS immediately.

Tips for protecting yourself against SIM swops

• If reception on your cell phone is lost, immediately check what the problem could be, as you could have been a victim of an illegal SIM swop on your number. If confirmed, notify your bank immediately.
• Inform your Bank should your cell phone number changes so that your cell phone notification contact number is updated on its systems.
• Register for your Bank’s cell phone notification service and receive electronic messages relating to activities or transactions on your accounts as and when they occur.
• Regularly verify whether the details received from cell phone notifications are correct and according to the recent activity on your account. Should any detail appear suspicious immediately contact your Bank and report all log-on notification that are unknown to you.
• Memorise your PIN and passwords, never write them down or share them, not even with a bank official.
• Make sure your PIN and passwords cannot be seen when you enter them.
• If you think your PIN and/or password has been compromised, change it immediately either online or at your nearest branch.
• Choose an unusual PIN and password that are hard to guess and change them often.

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