SOUTH AFRICA - BANK FRAUD SCHEMES YOU SHOULD TAKE NOTE OF & PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST

Banking and financial statistics in South Africa show that an increasing number of consumers have continued to fall victim to banking fraud. While many financial institutions have taken the initiative to sensitise customers on common fraud threats, this has not stopped the trend. With the festive season around the corner and more consumers conducting various shopping and financial transactions, here are some types of banking fraud schemes you must be aware of.

Card skimming
Card skimming is a type of bank fraud, where a small electronic device called a skimmer is used by fraudsters to steal card information. The skimmer is usually installed in the POS machine or ATM. When a card gets run through a skimmer, the device captures and stores key information from the magnetic strip of your credit/debit card. This information is copied to the magnetic strip of a blank card and used by fraudsters to steal money from your bank account. The best way to avoid being a victim is being careful with ATMs and POS machines where you use your card. You can also consider replacing your magnetic plastic card with a chip based card

Text phishing
Text phishing occurs when fraudsters send you  a text message in an attempt to coerce you into providing personal information. The text message will claim that your account has been deactivated and requests that you call a specific phone number in the text message to reactivate the account. Once the phone number is called, you’re prompted via automated message to provide your account information. Offenders will then use your account information to make fraudulent transactions.

Key loggers
Key loggers are devices which log all the keystrokes entered on a particular computer. The keystrokes are then retrieved by criminals and used for their own purposes. The key logger could be hidden in an email attachment sent to you, or the criminal can install it when working on your computer via a memory stick.

Proof of payment scam
This happens when a criminal orders goods or services from a business and sends through a fraudulent proof of payment deposit made. If the supplier does not properly verify the proof of payment sent to the business and deposited amounts of money, goods are delivered to the criminal with minimum chances of recovering those goods.

Phishing
This is the practice of sending emails to mislead the recipients into disclosing personal information like credit card numbers, personal identification numbers (PINS), passwords or account data, usually by directing the recipient to a fake website. These emails, which often contain official logos, urge persons to update their information, by clicking on a link in the email which takes them to a bogus website, where the entered information is captured.

The fraud schemes listed above are worth looking out for.

via - RANDBURGSUN