Fraud prevention services in Southern Africa (SAFPS) have noted an increase in fraudulent activity, including a recent trend in which thieves target banking applications in an attempt to steal money from their victims.
Manie van Schalkwyk, speaking to SABC News, stated that the SAFPS has observed a rise in cell phone thefts, with thieves concentrating on banking applications.
According to van Schalkwyk, “Criminals are somehow gaining access to bank accounts by using the banking app on that stolen phone.”
He went on to say that if your phone is stolen, you should contact your banks right away so they can remove the app’s connection to your accounts. Only then should you be concerned about calling your cell provider and deleting the SIM card.
Additionally, there have been more instances of consumers being tricked by con artists who force them to transfer money via their banking applications after they have been taken advantage of.
Ulrich Janse van Rensburg, head of fraud strategy at Absa, suggests the following steps even if there aren’t many ways to shield customers from hijacking incidents:
Get the most recent updates for your banking applications, which are packed with the newest security features;
To ensure that you accept the transaction requests you plan to process, carefully read the approval requests;
Never fund accounts belonging to third parties; and
If you halt any unauthorised behaviour, contact your bank’s fraud hotline right away.
In terms of cyber dangers, South Africa leads Africa, placing third in the most recent Interpol report.
With 59% of instances reported, Gauteng has the greatest percentage of fraudulent cases in South Africa. Kwa-Zulu Natal reports 18% of cases.
In addition, the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa (META) area saw a 22% increase in mobile threats between 2022 and 2023, according to cybersecurity firm Kaspersky.
Particularly, mobile risks increased by 104% in South Africa.
These figures originate from Kaspersky’s products for Android devices; because of the OS specs, it is more difficult to monitor Apple devices.
Mobile banking trojans are among the most common risks for mobile devices that Kaspersky has identified. “Viruses have the ability to extort money, add undesired subscriptions, and steal data from victims’ devices.”
According to the report, “we believe that in 2024, there will be an increase in advanced attacks on mobile devices due to the ongoing efforts of attackers to find new ways to distribute malware and the ongoing sophistication of malware itself.”
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