Absa fraud warning – including a rise in kidnappings

Banking fraud and scams pose a massive threat to consumers and cost them and the economy billions every year.

According to the Southern African Fraud Prevention Service, fraud incidents have surged 32% this year, and impersonation fraud victims have increased by 54%.

BusinessTech spoke to Ulrich Janse van Rensburg, Chief Fraud Strategy & Analytics Officer at Absa Everyday Banking, to hear about the common banking scams that they are seeing currently.

“Vishing,” or voice-linked fraud, is one of the most common scams currently involving fraudsters calling customers and creating a sense of panic.

They claim the customer has been a victim of fraud and ask them to cooperate in resolving the issue.

They may ask the customer to download an app that gives them remote access to their device, allowing them to steal information or funds.

Another tactic involves telling the customer to move their money to a “safe account,” which is actually controlled by the scammer.

In other cases, they convince the customer to approve a transaction, tricking them into thinking they are reversing a fraudulent charge. In reality, they’re authorizing an e-commerce payment for the scammer...