WATCH: Standard Bank reassures customers and denies any security breach

Standard Bank is adamant that there hasn’t been a security breach in its systems, despite numerous customer complaints reported online.

Several Standard Bank customers, including three-time Comrades Marathon winner Gerda Steyn, took to the X platform, saying they had been victims of fraud and were unable to access the bank’s call centre.

“Trying to report fraud Standard Bank, but nobody picking up the phone… been on hold for over an hour already!” Steyn posted.

Watch Standard Bank clarify ‘security breach’

Standard Bank has sought to allay client fears as it refutes claims by some of its customers that they have been hacked, with some claiming money has been removed from their accounts. The bank has also assured customers that its systems are secured with multiple mechanisms.… pic.twitter.com/UZ2gmjjdUC

— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) July 2, 2024

No breach

Standard Bank’s chief risk officer for personal and private banking, Thabani Ndwandwe, told Newzroom Afrika there has been no breach of its system.

“We can confirm there hasn’t been a security breach specific to any of our systems or anything that we saw in 2021. However, what we saw this month-end is an increase in fraud activity as fraudsters try and target clients at the month-end because they know there’s money in the customers’ accounts and there’s many fraud modus operandi we tend to see and block those without even customers knowing.

“The fraud modus operandi that came through was one that required us to contact customers and many of the clients would’ve received communication from us because we saw those transactions coming through and all our control systems and security systems worked and alerted us, contacted clients and let them know,” Ndwandwe said.

Trying to report fraud @StandardBankZA but nobody picking up the phone… been on hold for over a hour already!!

— Gerda Steyn (@gerdarun) July 2, 2024

Standard Bank apologised to its customers for the delayed response when calling its call centre.

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2021 data breach  

In 2021, Standard Bank and property firm Lightstone confirmed that they were hit by a data breach, through property valuation platform LookSee, and that the personal information of property owners had been exposed.

“Regrettably the initial investigations have shown that personal information of some property owners, including individual names, identity numbers, entity registration numbers, marital status and physical addresses may have been exposed.

“The personal information does not contain any banking details, cell-phone numbers or email addresses,” they said.

Both organisations at the time said they implemented the “appropriate containment” and risk mitigation plans and reported the matter to the relevant authorities, including the Information Regulator.

Safety

Here are some important tips for staying safe when surfing the internet, shopping or banking online.

Passwords

• Use strong passwords for all your online accounts, while considering using a password manager to securely store and manage your passwords.

Multi-factor authentication

• Enable multiple factor authentication to add an extra layer of security including biometric authentication such as fingerprint or facial recognition.

Software

• Keep your computer and mobile devices up to date with the latest security patches and software updates. This helps to protect against known vulnerabilities that cybercriminals may exploit.

Public Wi-Fi

• Use a strong, unique password for your Wi-Fi network and enable encryption to prevent unauthorised access. Also keep your router’s software up to date and download the latest security patches.
• Check that your wireless router’s firewall is turned on or organise a good firewall solution on your system to guard against malicious access attempts on your wireless network.
• Avoid conducting sensitive transactions over public Wi-Fi networks

Contactless payment

• Use contactless cards or mobile wallets for secure transactions.

Suspicious e-mails and links

• Be cautious about suspicious e-mails and links as they may contain malware or lead to phishing scams. Phishing is an attack that attempts to steal your money or identity by getting you to reveal personal information such as credit card numbers, bank information or passwords by pretending to be legitimate.
• These types of e-mails often have an urgency to them and encourage you to do something immediately and create fear. Make sure you verify the sender and the link before clicking on anything.

ALSO READ: Standard Bank: Victims of data breach must ‘keep a close eye on bank statements’