I still don't get why banks in SA don't show the recipient bank account name when entering the account number when making a payment - they do share this information with each other.
This would leak information on the recipient account and could be abused by malicious parties.
...Or require you to match the name to the account number for a double check. So you supply both rather than have the ability to look up any account name with random numbers.
This is starting to happen in the international arena.
To best understand what is happening, it's best to use standard names for fraud types and use it consistently.
This vehicle scam is nothing else than
business email compromise fraud commonly called
BEC. It's quite pervasive in South Africa as well. Vehicles being abused is a red herring, it can be any business transaction. One of the email accounts will be compromised, either the payer or payee.
This is also why the owner of Hydro Club in Rivonia, Abdul, was arrested in his Bently and all:
The scam is allegedly headed by Nigerians and targeting attorneys dealing with big-money property transactions.
www.iol.co.za
This is not new. BEC is currently the largest form of cybercrime in the world.
Cyber insurance and the top 10 cybercrime claims list. AIG releases its top 10 cyber claims list, and there is a new number one: BEC overtakes ransomware.
www.secureworldexpo.com
Average loss per BEC scam amounted to nearly $75,000, per complaint, on average.
www.zdnet.com
Phishing is not the only way the perpetrators gain access, that is a convenient excuse, but is common. Concerted attacks are also common. Puny code and homoglyphs are common, likewise concerted infrastructure attacks. email forwarders may be set and 2FA will not help. It is wise to constantly check for forwarders and other email rules on your email. Being in South Africa or anywhere else in the world does not matter.
Shark Tank star Barbara Corcoran is missing nearly $400,000 Wednesday morning after her office was victimized by email scammers.
blog.knowbe4.com
Currently many consumer facing experts are working hard to address this issue. News is highly inaccurate, but understandably so as the media is not aware of the extraordinary efforts going on by selfless people around the world in the background. That is also why this article leaves me with a chuckle:
"Shark Tank" star Barbara Corcoran is getting candid about the phishing scam she says cost her almost $400,000.
www.usatoday.com
Scammers return money - no such thing.
But my bank put pressure on the German bank ... - lol. Anti-BEC teams swung into action. Both banks and a few more folk actually deserve the credit.
This is just like in the previously mentioned Abdul case.
As for account name and number matching, this is happening abroad. From the UK:
From July next year if the name doesn't match with the account and sort code the payment won't go through. It's taken too long to get to this point
www.independent.co.uk
Two retirees were conned out of their savings, but the banks say they were negligent
www.theguardian.com
Currently experts are trying to figure out best practice in situations such as a company changing names, being bought out by another or somebody getting married and changing surnames.
Australians are losing tens of thousands of dollars a year to scams that could be stopped if banks checked account names with account numbers on electronic payments.
www.abc.net.au
A big part of this are those old 419 scams that have evolved. Victim accounts are used. This is also why the US has upped the game in terms of money mules:
Attorney General William P. Barr and law enforcement partners today announced a concentrated effort across the country and around the world to halt money mule activity. Money mules assist fraud schemes by receiving money from victims, many of them elderly, and forwarding proceeds to...
www.justice.gov
While not much has happened from the enforcement side locally, South Africa's law enforcement and banks will be forced to fit in.
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