SABRIC, the South African Banking Risk Information Centre, has released its annual crime statistics for 2020 from the banking industry.
In a press statement recently, SABRIC described the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on crime trends over the past year, with criminals taking advantage of new opportunities to changes in human behaviour, the restricted movement of people, and policing.
This includes efforts to ‘phish’ customers who have shifted to online shopping and paying through apps, and steal personal information and defraud customers digitally.
Overall, SABRIC reported an increase in banking crime incidents for this period and revealed the following figures:
- Digital banking fraud increased by 33% – debit card fraud increased by 22% and credit card fraud decreased by 7%
- Associated robberies decreased by 24%, particularly in the Free State, the Eastern Cape, and Mpumalanga
- While overall ATM attacks decreased by 9%, ATM ‘bombings’ increased by 20%
- Cash-in-transit robberies decreased significantly as a result of the Level 5 lockdown, but once restrictions were lifted, they increased again by 22%
- Robberies and burglaries both increased by 42% and 12% respectively.
According to Nischal Mewalall, CEO of SABRIC: “Your personal data, when combined with technology, has become the new key to the safe that holds your money in a bank, so you must safeguard your data to prevent criminals from accessing your safe.”
Mewalall warned that in future, cybercrime and data breaches will pose a significant threat to customers and banks, because even the best security and technology can be compromised when criminals illegally obtain and use legitimate data to commit a crime.
He warned bank customers against clicking on links in unsolicited emails, because these links are used in phishing emails to direct people to ‘spoofed’ websites. These sites are almost identical to legitimate online retail sites, complete with enticing images and convincing taglines.
“Criminals use these bogus websites to steal bank card information and use it to make online purchases using your account. We are still seeing a lot of scams advertising seemingly incredible deals on personal protective equipment, sanitiser, and fake vaccines…” added Mewalall.
Here are some tips from SABRIC to prevent becoming a victim of personal information theft:
• Never use the same username and password for banking and social media platforms
• Stay away from sharing or having joint social media accounts and be cautious of what you post on social media
• Enable security settings to limit access to your personal information
• Never keep unnecessary personal information in your wallet or purse
• Never give out personal information such as passwords and PINs when asked to do, especially by phone, fax, or email
• Do not conduct banking transactions in Internet Cafes or unsecure terminals (such as hotels and conference centres)
• For all of your accounts, use strong passwords and change these on regular basis
• Keep personal and financial documents in a secure location, preferable under lock and key
• Verify all requests for personal information and only provide these details when absolutely necessary
• If your ID is ever lost or stolen, contact the SA Fraud Prevention Service immediately on 086 010 1248 or www.safps.org.za, to prevent this document from being used to commit fraud
• Install a strong firewall and antivirus software to prevent a virus from sending personal information from your computer
• When disposing of personal information, shred or burn instead of placing in a garbage or recycling bag
• If your ID or drivers licence is stolen, contact SAPS immediately.
Contact us
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Email: Reveshni Douglas (Editor) at reveshni@caxton.co.za
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