Banking crimes increase in all but two categories
MBOMBELA - Most banking crimes in Mpumalanga increased in 2019 in comparison to 2018, except for robberies of bank clients on their way to or from the bank, defined as associated robberies, and cash-in-transit robberies.
Digital banking fraud is on the rise countrywide, despite efforts by banks and financial institutions to curb the scourge.
This is according to the annual crime statistics for 2019 recently released by the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric) on behalf of the banking industry.
Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the Western Cape showed the greatest decreases for associated robberies. In Mpumalanga, incidents decreased from 87 in 2018 to 62 in 2019. This is a decrease of 29 per cent.
Cash-in-transit robberies went down nationally by 16 per cent. In Mpumalanga, it decreased from 29 incidences in 2018 to 23 in 2019. The represents a decrease of 21 per cent.
Nationwide, ATM attacks went down by nine per cent. In Mpumalanga, though, ATM attacks increased from 51 in 2018 to 83 in 2019. That is an increase of 63 per cent.
Digital banking fraud is also on the rise everywhere in South Africa and incidents increased from 23 206 in 2018 to 27 928 in 2019. This is a 20 per cent increase. The gross loss suffered increased from R260 million to R284,4 million.
Sabric CEO Nischal Mewalall stated, “Our banks have sound security measures in place to mitigate digital fraud. Criminals know this and therefore resort to manipulative social engineering tactics to get customers to inadvertently share their personal and confidential information.”
Credit card and debit card fraud increased by 20,5 per cent. The leading contributor to gross card fraud losses has remained card not present fraud (CNP), for example, when your card number is used fraudulently by someone else to make a purchase at a garage while the physical card is in your possession. Around 66,6 per cent of all fraud on SA issued credit cards took place on merchant devices in a foreign country.
Looking ahead, Mewalall warned that the advent of Covid-19 has had a marked impact on crime globally. Sabric has already seen an increase in new scams involving personal protective equipment, fake vaccines as well as other phishing scams.
Callum Mac Pherson, regional operational manager of Hi-Tech Security, said they have had a marked decrease in ATM bombings over the years, but have had an increase of ATM card theft.
“In our experience, armed robberies at banks and bombing of ATMs decreased with the criminal syndicates rather targeting cashin-transit companies. ATM card theft has had a sharp increase and often goes unreported due to the fact that the criminal syndicates involved do not always succeed in gaining funds from a victim and hence the victim does not report the crime,” he said.
The syndicates that target users of
ATMs are often very friendly and get bank customers to drop their guard and then make off with the bank card. They operate in teams of two or three, having one to distract, while another gains the PIN information and grabs the card.
“The most important thing is to never let anyone be in your space at an ATM, even if they are well dressed and seemingly helpful. Always check that you do in fact have your own card once you leave an ATM as they often swap cards out. If you feel uncomfortable with any person near you at an ATM cancel the transaction immediately and check that you have your own card before leaving.
“Banking fraud is also always a concern and people should never trust a random letter or email of a business claiming that their banking details have changed until you have confirmed it with the business to which you are making payments. Criminals often use this tactic and then collect the funds you think you are paying to a regular supplier,” Mac Pherson said.