The South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) on behalf of the banking industry has released its annual crime stats for 2020.
COVID-19, in conjunction with the
implementation of regulations of the Disaster Management Act had a notable
influence on financial crime trends in 2020. It triggered changes in human
behaviour, human movement, and policing, creating new opportunities for
criminals which significantly impacted the number of crime incidents. While
some crime types decreased, others increased as criminals exploited COVID-19
for their own gain. Overall, SABRIC has seen an increase in banking crime
incidents.
As customers turned to online shopping and
settling payments on app, criminals enhanced their efforts to phish customers
to steal their personal data to defraud them on digital and online platforms.
Digital banking fraud increased by 33%.
Debit card fraud rose by 22%, while on a
positive note, credit card fraud decreased by 7%.
Contact crime was impacted by the restriction
of movement and visible policing, resulting in a decrease in incidents.
Associated robberies saw a decrease of 24% in 2020 when compared to 2019 with
decreases evident in the Free State, the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga.
While ATM attacks decreased by 9% overall, ATM
explosive incidents increased by 20%.
Cash-in-transit (CIT) robberies decreased
significantly due to the Level 5 lockdown in April and May of 2020, but once
restrictions were lifted, these increased again by 22% as criminals were able
to move with fewer restrictions and fear of roadblocks and searches.
Robberies and burglaries also increased by 42%
and 12% respectively.
SABRIC CEO Nischal Mewalall stated: “Your
personal data, when combined with technology has become the new key to the safe
that holds your money in a bank, so you must safeguard your data to prevent
criminals getting access to your safe.”
Mewalall further warned that looking ahead,
cybercrime and data breaches will represent a significant threat to customers
and banks, because even the best security and technology can be compromised
when criminals source and use legitimate data illegally, to carry out a crime.
Mewalall also warns bank customers to never
click on links in unsolicited emails as these links are used in phishing emails
to drive people to “spoofed” websites which look like legitimate online
retailers, complete with enticing images and convincing taglines.
“Criminals use these bogus websites to harvest
bank card details to make online purchases using your account. We are still
seeing lots of scam’s advertising seemingly incredible deals for personal
protective equipment, sanitiser and fake vaccines that exploit people’s concern
for their health and safety.” adds Mewalall.
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