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SABRIC says criminal incidents on digital platforms are on the rise

With technology bringing several advantages in the online and mobile banking space, chief among them being time-saving, the rise of applications are also opening up opportunities for criminals to exploit digital platforms.

To that end, the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) released a report earlier this week which highlighted the rise in incidents of criminal acts on digital platforms.

SABRIC reports that in 2017 around 13 438 incidents across all banking apps (online and mobile banking) cost the industry more than R250 million in gross losses. While the incidents from January to August 2018 showed a 64 percent increase, the increase in gross losses was just 7 percent when compared to the same period in 2017.

“Criminals are always looking for ways to exploit digital platforms to defraud victims, but the mitigation strategies deployed by banks are very robust, so it is easier to target people, as they are the weakest link,” said SABRIC CEO, Kalyani Pillay in the statement.

The report breaks down the statistics accordingly:

Mobile banking incidents – comparing January to August in 2017 to the same period in 2018, mobile banking incidents showed an increase of more than 100 percent, with gross losses of over R23 million.

Online banking incidents – showed an increase of 44 percent with gross losses of R89 million.

Banking app incidents – increased by 20 percent with gross losses of R70 million.

SIM swaps –  saw 4 040 incidents from January to August in 2017, and 8 252 incidents from January to August in 2018, with an increase of 104 percent.

“Criminals are very skilled at using social engineering to manipulate their victims into divulging their personal or confidential information. They capitalise on the fact that not all digital banking clients are digitally literate and exploit this vulnerability,” added Pillay.

SABRIC explains that clients are still compromised because of phishing, vishing or the installation of malware onto the victim’s device by having them click on a link which then enables the criminals to steal sufficient personal information to access their online banking profile.

“It is critical that consumers are aware that they are their money’s best protection on all digital platforms. We also cannot stress the importance of not sharing confidential information with anyone or clicking on links in isolated emails,” concluded Pillay.

SABRIC says that they are working closely with the SAPS and mobile network operators to address this scourge.

[Image – CC 0 Pixabay]

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