How to guard against digital banking fraud

South Africa, like many countries, is subject to alarming levels of cybercrime. According to the latest annual crime statistics from the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC), a staggering R438m was defrauded via digital banking in 2021.

The annual report of the Ombudsman for Banking Services notes that bank fraud made up the majority of complaints against banks last year. Of these, digital banking cases comprised 17%, with mobile banking fraud and voice phishing, known as vishing, noted as major concerns.

In this article, we consider whether we can win the fight against digital banking fraud, and what to be aware of when transacting.

Tip: Checking your credit score regularly can help you spot, and report, irregularities, and potential fraud.

Is digital fraud increasing?

There’s a perception that digital fraud is worsening, but that’s not the case, says Ulrich Janse van Rensburg, chief fraud strategy and analytics officer at Absa Everyday Banking.

“Fraud levels remain high, but they are not proportionally worse than in previous years,” he says.

“Digitisation has been a growing theme over the past decade. The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated digitisation, which has led to increased levels of digital transactions, such as e-commerce and payments.”

As digital banking activity increases, criminals take advantage, using different techniques to defraud banks and their customers. These techniques include social engineering, such as phishing, vishing and remote attacks.

Who is liable if you lose money?

Janse van Rensburg says both the bank and the customer need to be vigilant.

“It’s the responsibility of financial institutions to offer the safest and most convenient digital platforms for consumers to use, but the onus is on the customer to use these platforms responsibly,” he says. 

“Don’t share the ‘keys to the kingdom’ - your login credentials, card credentials, and approval mechanism - with anyone.”

Janse van Rensburg says Absa’s digital fraud warranty protects its customers against digital fraud, but terms and conditions apply.

Ways to protect yourself from fraud 

Janse van Rensburg warns against the following:

• Responding to a call from someone purporting to be a “bank employee” who manufactures a crisis requiring an immediate response - such as reversing a fraudulent transaction on your account - and requests “keys to the safe” to support you. Bank employees will never request such information or require your mobile bank application approval to stop fraud. Further, your bank will never ask you to move your funds to a safe account.
• Clicking on a link embedded in an email or SMS message purporting to be from your bank, which redirects you to a phishing website that will require you to log on to your online banking.
• Authenticating a digital transaction that you haven’t initiated.

Tips to avoid becoming a victim

Janse van Rensburg recommends taking the following steps to stay safe:

• Check your bank statements and subscribe to your bank’s payment notification service so you can stay on top of activity in your account.
• Update your banking app to enable the latest security features, and download anti-fraud software from your bank’s website.
• Save your bank’s fraud hotline number on your phone.
• When transacting on third-party websites, or when coming across a suspicious URL, perform a vulnerability scan at Yima, a platform set up to identify fraud. Yima also publishes the latest scam alerts on its website.

Tip: If you’re paying too much interest on your debt, consider debt consolidation.