Cape Town – Members of the public are urged to be careful, as digital banking fraud is on the rise and crime syndicates are allegedly looking for victims at popular malls in South Africa.
Earlier this week, Twitter user, @_Ayabulela warned of crime syndicates allegedly prowling Gauteng malls. Content creator Ayabulela Mahleza said she was in Mall of Africa, when her phone was stolen from her bag and money was stolen from her bank account using her banking app.
“I'm in disbelief at this point because there's no way this should happen. I was told that all the money was transferred using my banking app, into another account that was opened on the same Thursday, and then withdrawn at an ATM at Mall of Africa.
“Anyway, long story short, I was left without money and without a phone. The bank is still investigating and, as much as there's a possibility they will refund it, it will not be any time soon because there's a case involved. SAPS and the bank needs to conduct their own investigation,” said Mahleza.
Anyway, here is a detailed thread of what happened to me so that others too can be warned.
— LALA (@__Ayabulela) September 29, 2021
I was at Mall of Africa shopping on Thursday 23 September 2021. My cellphone was in my hand the entire time until, I needed to look for a specific item inside the store.
Mahleza said, in a matter of minutes, they were able to unlock her phone, disable the “Find my iPhone“ feature, wipe her cloud, get into the banking app, transfer all her money and withdraw it at the mall.
“Criminals are clever and they are getting better with technology each day. I just wrote this thread to warn you guys, I don't know how you can be careful, but please be careful because I don't wish what happened to me, even on my worst enemy,” added Mahleza.
What do I do if my phone gets stolen?
The moment you find that your phone was stolen, de-link the bank app immediately. If you bank with banks like FNB and Absa, you can access your account through another device to deactivate, or de-link the bank app. If a client banks with another bank, it is important to find out how to deactivate or de-link your bank app, in case of emergency.
In the case where your phone gets stolen, report the incident to your bank and call your cellphone service provider to block your SIM card, incoming calls and SMSes and the phone. This will prevent criminals from getting any One Time Pins (OTPs) that could enable them to activate and transact from your account.
What do I do if they have my phone AND they wipe out my account?
The next worst thing after having your phone stolen is losing the money in your bank account because the criminals gained access to your bank app.
This can result in having your overdraft and credit limit maxed.
As with the above, get hold of your bank. Also ask your bank to help you contact a credit bureau, to put a credit freeze on your name.
This will stop criminals from opening new lines of credit in your name. There are four main credit bureaus in South Africa: Experian, TransUnion, Compuscan and XDS.
Note down the details of all the transactions that took place at the time, include the date, time, amount, merchant’s name, and others.
Report the incident to the police station and share the details of the transactions.
You can also try to contact every merchant, whose name was included in the transactions, and inform them that the debit card used in the transaction was used fraudulently.
As a general rule of thumb, report the incident to the necessary authorities as soon as possible, to mitigate any losses.
Statistics
According to the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric), digital banking fraud increased by 33% and debit card fraud rose by 22%.
Sabric said contact crime was impacted by the restriction of movement and visible policing, resulting in a decrease in incidents.
The year 2020 saw Gauteng most affected by credit card fraud (58.3%), followed by the Western Cape (23.8%) and KwaZulu-Natal (6%).
The top three provinces affected by debit card fraud during 2020 were Gauteng (45%), the Western Cape (16%) and KwaZulu-Natal (11.9%).
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