Durban – Doing last-minute Christmas shopping? The SAPS and the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric) have urged online shoppers to practice safety and be vigilant at all times as cyber criminals anticipate this busy season as well, hoping to turn unaware shoppers into victims of crime.
According to Sabric's 2021 annual crime statistics report, which was released this year, in 2021, digital banking fraud saw an 18% decrease in reported incidents, which was mainly attributed to a reduction in mobile banking fraud incidents.
However, it noted that despite the decline in incidents, there was a significant increase of 45% in gross losses, from R310 million in 2020 to R438m in 2021.
The SAPS offered some safety tips for shopping online:
• If it looks too good to be true, it usually is.
• Never send money or give credit card or online account details to anyone you do not know and trust.
• Be careful while downloading new apps for shopping, coupons, or deals. Before you click on the download button, check the app permissions and other information requested by the application.
• Shop online only through trusted sites. While you search for your favourite product online or check out a fantastic deal, ensure that you click on those websites whose site addresses begin with https instead of http.
• Enable security alerts for all your financial transactions.
• Avoid online shopping when using public wi-fi networks.
• Create unique passwords for your accounts online.
Sabric also urged the public to treat mobile devices on which they have loaded banking apps the same way they would treat a bank card.
- If your mobile device is lost or stolen notify your bank immediately to freeze your banking profile and prevent criminals from using your banking app.
- When calling the bank to report the phone as stolen, request that they place a temporary hold on your entire account to allow you the time to change, replace and update all your information.
- Always log out of your banking app manually once you have finished transacting.
- Keep your daily EFT and ATM limits low as some banking apps and internet banking profiles will require that contact be made with the bank before the limit can be increased on your profile.