Are you chilling on Facebook or Instagram oversharing with friends – and then logging into your online banking with the same profile?
You may be saying ‘hi’ to a cybercriminal.
The SA Fraud Prevention Service wants us to become more savvy online‚ to avoid the risk of a real-life drama.
The organisation said some online users were aware and concerned about their digital security‚ while others were aware, yet not concerned at all.
In part‚ this is due to trust in institutions such as banks.
“The better you understand online privacy and security concerns‚ the more effectively we can address online security individually and professionally,” the service’s Manie van Schalkwyk said.
“Companies may want to think about investing more heavily in IT and online security in this age of data abundance that increases individual and corporate exposure.”
Monitoring your own digital transactions is important‚ even without the risk of cybercrime.
A 21-year old student from the University of Johannesburg‚ Nelisiwe Khumalo‚ said she found money was being taken from her bank account without her knowledge.
“There was a debit order that kept coming out of my account at the end of each month and I didn’t know until the amount became R300‚” she said.
Khumalo was oblivious to what was happening because usually banks do not send SMS notifications of transactions under R100.
She said it was best to have a banking app on your phone so you could check if anything suspicious was happening with your account. But cybercrime is real.
According to the SA Banking Risk Information Centre, South Africa has the third highest number of cyber crime victims worldwide‚ losing about R2.2-billion a year to cyber attacks‚ emphasising the need for precautions to be taken.
Last month‚ a South African comedy team reportedly lost R300 000 in an e-mail scam‚ where their banking details were changed and sent to clients‚ resulting in clients paying money into the wrong accounts.
You may be saying ‘hi’ to a cybercriminal
The SA Fraud Prevention Service wants us to become more savvy online
Image: pexels.com
Are you chilling on Facebook or Instagram oversharing with friends – and then logging into your online banking with the same profile?
You may be saying ‘hi’ to a cybercriminal.
The SA Fraud Prevention Service wants us to become more savvy online‚ to avoid the risk of a real-life drama.
The organisation said some online users were aware and concerned about their digital security‚ while others were aware, yet not concerned at all.
In part‚ this is due to trust in institutions such as banks.
“The better you understand online privacy and security concerns‚ the more effectively we can address online security individually and professionally,” the service’s Manie van Schalkwyk said.
“Companies may want to think about investing more heavily in IT and online security in this age of data abundance that increases individual and corporate exposure.”
Monitoring your own digital transactions is important‚ even without the risk of cybercrime.
A 21-year old student from the University of Johannesburg‚ Nelisiwe Khumalo‚ said she found money was being taken from her bank account without her knowledge.
“There was a debit order that kept coming out of my account at the end of each month and I didn’t know until the amount became R300‚” she said.
Khumalo was oblivious to what was happening because usually banks do not send SMS notifications of transactions under R100.
She said it was best to have a banking app on your phone so you could check if anything suspicious was happening with your account. But cybercrime is real.
According to the SA Banking Risk Information Centre, South Africa has the third highest number of cyber crime victims worldwide‚ losing about R2.2-billion a year to cyber attacks‚ emphasising the need for precautions to be taken.
Last month‚ a South African comedy team reportedly lost R300 000 in an e-mail scam‚ where their banking details were changed and sent to clients‚ resulting in clients paying money into the wrong accounts.
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