Avoid the criminal Grinches who try to steal Christmas
It’s the festive season and for most that means time to relax and unwind with family and friends. It’s also when scammers intensify their efforts, because people are less vigilant and possibly have a bit more money than usual.
According to the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) criminals are particularly active at this time of year as “they know people are winding down for the holidays and spending their bonuses.”
The organisation’s 2022 annual crime statistics reports shows that although there were decreases in some financial crime, there were significant increases in others.
Amongst these were digital-banking fraud which surged by 36% and online banking fraud, which rose by 9%. Common to both was the use of ‘vishing’ to obtain confidential information such as PIN and credit-card numbers.
Vishing is when criminals make calls or leave voice messages, pretending to be from a bank or another reputable company, to try and get you to share personal information, PINs or credit card details.
Phishing scams are similar in intent, but use social media, SMSs, e-mails and/ or bogus websites to obtain information. Typically, the fraudsters send a message that appears to come from your bank or a legitimate business and ask you to respond or click a link and provide a PIN code or one-time password (OTP) to confirm a payment into your account.
In both cases, the criminals then either clean out your account or use personal details to apply for loans or open retail accounts.
A variation is a call or e-mail from someone pretending to be from one of the big IT brands or a financial service provider offering to remotely load some security software onto your computer. Once installed, you’ll be promoted to log into your online banking profile. Then you get OTPs on your phone to confirm transactions you haven’t made. The scammer asks for the OTPs to ‘block’ them, but then uses the information to steal from your account.
“The best way to avoid scams is to be constantly vigilant. Don’t think that it’ll always happen to someone else – everyone is a target, from financially savvy company directors to tech-phobic pensioners. Fraudsters identify and exploit vulnerabilities. They may pretend to be a big, new client that could ensure the company meets its budgets for the year or a helpful banking employee trying to facilitate a pension payment,” says Neven Narayanasamy from specialist loan provider, DirectAxis.
He warns that while you might spot 99.9% of the poorly executed scams, you only need to make one error of judgement. Some scams are so sophisticated and convincing that afterwards the victims are adamant they never revealed any personal information.
Scammers are constantly coming up with variations of existing scams and new schemes, making it impossible to detail every sort of scam, but here are some tips on how to protect yourself:
Don’t believe you’ve won or inherited a large amount of money, or have become eligible for a low-interest-rate loan. Never pay an upfront admin or other fee or provide personal details to release the money. If it seems too good to be true, it is.
Don’t share your passwords or PIN numbers with anyone on any channel, even if they claim to be from a bank or other financial service provider. No reputable financial institution will ever ask for this information.
Never let bank or other transactional cards out of your sight. If you do lose a card report it and immediately put a hold on the card. The same applies to your cellphone, particularly if you use it for banking.
Don’t share personal information on social media sites.
Never let any unauthorised person have remote access to your computer, cellphone or other devices even if they claim to be from a well-known company, bank, IT or software provider.
Don’t download software from pop-up windows.
Never send money or give credit card details, online account details or copies of personal documents to anyone you don’t know and trust.
Only shop on or transact on reputable websites and either bookmark your trusted sites or type the URL into your browser. Never click on a link you’ve been sent – it could take you to a bogus site.
Scammers use all the channels they can including phone, e-mail and social media. Be careful about answering unsolicited messages.
Be suspicious of e-mails or messages from friends that seem out of character or from well-known companies that contain spelling or grammatical errors or other inconsistencies such old logos or Gmail addresses rather than a company domain e-mail.
Install anti-virus software and update it regularly.
Be wary of payment requests for goods or services you haven’t or don’t remember ordering, especially if you’re asked to use an unusual payment method such as MoneyGram.
Frequently check your credit rating. You can use free online tools such as Pulse. A sudden, negative change in your rating could indicate someone is using your personal information fraudulently.
If you’re suspicious or do get caught out, report the scam. The information you provide may lead to the scammers getting prosecuted or at least the scam being shut down.
“Most financial services companies have fraud departments and will act to shut down websites, bank accounts and other mechanisms used as part of the fraud. Reporting scams is the best way to fight back. Even if you have spotted the scam, reporting it may prevent others falling victim,” says Narayanasamy.