Ombud warns citizens of new banking scam

The Banking Ombud of South Africa Reana Steyn has warned the public to be careful and double check when approving or accepting any message that comes through mobile phones or emails.

This follows reports of a new banking scam involving a growingly popular contactless payment method to empty people’s bank accounts.

Fraudsters are reportedly using stolen card information, such as the card number, expiry date and Card Verification Value number to make purchases via digital payment wallets.

New wave of bank scams is hitting South Africa: Reana Steyn

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Steyn says these apps employ near-field communications (NFC) technology to make tap payments on smartphones and smartwatches using a linked bank card.

“Now the fraudsters are linking their devices, their watches, their smart phones to your card details and people are not realising that they are opening the safe when they click on a message somewhere along the line where they allow this linkage.

There’s a message from the bank that will say you’re linking additional device but they maybe thinking they’re talking about their own and if people don’t read really the message and just click yes or they just want the message to go away and once you click just once, that permanently links your account to the fraudster’s device.”