Internet scams, identity theft and card fraud are costing us millions every year in South Africa and they’re on the increase. South Africa is now the second most targeted country in the world for internet fraud and phishing attacks. In 2013, South Africans lost over R2.2 billion according to the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC)
In response to this, Phishield just launched a dedicated warranty which pays you up to R100 000 should you lose money due to these scams. With years of experience in cybercrime, data theft, identity theft and card fraud — they’re unique in their offering.
“While the whole world is grappling with the rapid rise of these scams, South Africa’s economic-crime statistics still remain much higher than the global average. Scams in South Africa take many forms, from fraudulent credit card use, to your entire identity being used to open accounts, obtain loans and conduct other illegal activities,” says Rudolph Lamprecht, Chairman at Phishield.
According to Phishield the top 10 scams include:
1. Identity theft is simply theft of your identity. It’s one of the leading contributors to successful fraud and is estimated to costs South African’s over R1 billion every year. (SABRIC)
2. Phishing is internet fraud. Fake emails are sent out by scammers to trick you into giving out valuable information such as card numbers, user ID’s, passwords and banking details. Most people know what phishing is, but we’re still falling for it.
3. Smishing is the SMS version of phishing. With the explosion of mobile phones usage across South Africa, it’s not surprising fraudsters have hopped on this band wagon.
4. Credit card fraud — if a criminal gets your card number and expiry date they can use it to buy things by phone or over the internet.
5. Card skimming is the illegal copying of information from a card’s magnetic stip. Skimming can happen at any bank ATM or a compromised point-of-sale card machine.
6. Counterfeit credit-card fraud involves illegally made cards that use personal information stolen from the magnetic strip of a genuine card. Criminals are increasingly using Counterfeit SA-issued credit cards in neighbouring countries such as Namibia, Swaziland, Lesotho, and Mozambique, specifically for withdrawals at ATMs.
7. Lost and stolen credit card fraud — if you misplace your card or have it stolen, you must phone your bank immediately. Lost and stolen credit card fraud increased by 102% from R15.6 million in 2012 to R31.7 million in 2013. (SABRIC)
8. Card not present (CNP) fraud is a major route for credit card fraud, because it’s difficult for a merchant to verify that the actual cardholder is indeed authorising a purchase. CNP transitions are: mail order, telephone order or a sale made over the internet CNP fraud on the increase — up 16% from R154.7 million in 2012 to R178.7 million in 2013. Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal account for 86.1% of it. (SABRIC)
9. Account takeover card fraud — one of the basic forms of identity theft (the other is application fraud), and it happens when a fraudster gets and uses a victim’s personal information to take control of existing bank or credit card accounts and carries out unauthorised transactions against them. Application fraud is when a perpetrator uses someone else’s personal information to establish new accounts. Account takeover fraud is the fastest growing type of fraud in South Africa — it increased by 100.5% from R1.1 million in 2012 to R2.2 million in 2013.
10. Cheque fraud — with cheques still a popular method of payment, cheque fraud is equally as popular with criminals. It’s estimated that 46% of banking fraud worldwide is cheque fraud. In South Africa the figure is probably just over 50%. According to the banking council, over R200 million was lost to cheque fraud in 2013.
