Financial fitness
Bank safely this festive season
While the festive season may be a time of relaxation, it is no time to let your guard down when it comes to your finances.
According to South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) CEO, Kalyani Pillay,“Criminals are always looking for opportunities to defraud their victims particularly at this time of year when they know that people are winding down for the holidays and spending their bonuses.”
Lost and stolen card fraud is still on the increase and bank customers have been urged not to accept any assistance at ATMs.
Criminals interrupt or distract bank customers while they are transacting and use the opportunity to swap and steal cards or trap the cards in the ATM for later use.
Customers should prioritise the setting of daily withdrawal and transaction limits, advised Pillay.
“Not only should customers be cautious when transacting at ATMs but online as well. Digital banking platforms have made transacting much more convenient but have also created opportunities for criminals to defraud people,” she added.
Customers also need to be vigilant when giving out personal and confidential information.
Examples of personal information include identity documents, driver's licences, passports, addresses and contact details.
Confidential information such as usernames, passwords and PINs should also be protected.
Criminals can use this information to assume a person's identity and create opportunities to impersonate them and to commit fraud.
Bank customers can guard against falling victim to these crimes by:
• Verifying all requests for personal information and only providing details when there is a legitimate reason.
• Not disclosing personal information such as passwords and PINs by telephone, fax or email.
• Ensuring your password, user ID or PIN does not contain information that could be used to identify you.
• Keeping PIN numbers and passwords confidential.
• Destroying personal information by shredding or burning it.
• Always assume that any Wi-Fi network you are using, especially those in public areas, may be compromised.
• Checking if your router has any pending firmware updates by logging into the admin page and installing any waiting updates.
• Not using internet cafes or unsecure terminals to do your banking.
• Changing your password regularly and not sharing it with anyone else.
• Storing personal and financial documentation safely.
• Alerting the South African Fraud Prevention Service immediately by calling 011 867 2234 if your ID is lost or stolen.
• Ensuring that you have a robust firewall and installing antivirus software to prevent a computer virus accessing your information.
• Ensuring that apps you are using have end-to-end encryption.