Black Friday warning from South African banks

The South African Banking Risk Centre’s (Sabric) latest fraud report indicates South Africans are as vulnerable as ever, and banks have warned those shopping online to be extra careful.

Sabric revealed in its Annual Crime Statistics report for 2023 that digital banking fraud had increased by 45% and related financial losses by 47%.

Interestingly, the report found that the most significant vulnerability within digital banking fraud was the banking app, which accounted for 60% of all digital banking crimes.

However, card fraud was found to still be a major issue, especially during online transactions.

Card Not Present (CNP) fraud, which occurs when online transactions are made, made up 68% of gross fraud losses, increasing by 19% from the previous year.

South Africans lost R338.5 million from CNP fraud in 2023.

This was most common among credit card holders, accounting for 80.6% of gross fraud losses, whereas it accounted for 64% among debit card holders.

Capitec’s head of CSI and financial education, Jean Rossouw, told MyBroadband that while Black Friday offers fantastic deals, consumers must be aware of the risks.

One of these risks is counterfeit and fake products.

“With the flood of online deals, counterfeit or fake products often enter the market. Make sure to verify that you’re purchasing from legitimate retailers and research products before you buy,” Russouw said.

He also points to scams and phishing attacks where cybercriminals exploit shoppers by creating fake websites and impersonating reputable brands.

“Shoppers may unknowingly share their payment details on fraudulent sites, risking their money and personal information,” says Russouw.

“If a deal appears too good to be true, it likely is.”

To avoid these scams, Russouw says shoppers should stick to trusted websites and brands, research them, and verify them before purchasing.

Standard Bank has also provided tips on how customers can stay safe by warning them about the devices they use.

“If you are shopping online, make sure the software on your desktop, laptop or mobile device is up to date and that you have anti-virus software installed,” it said.

“Cybercriminals have been known to create websites and emails that appear to be from legitimate businesses.”

Spotting a Black Friday scam

Sabric has identified several tips for shoppers and merchants to prevent falling victim to online scams.

One way to check a website’s legitimacy — the first step in deciding whether to transact — is to use the South African Fraud Prevention Service’s Yima website.

The tool scans websites for scams and vulnerabilities, using a combination of risks and feedback from users who have interacted with the website to create a Trust Score.

Users can also install a plugin on their browsers.

In the case of website spoofing, the user interface can be very accurately replicated. Attackers often change a single character in the URL, which often goes unnoticed, even upon close inspection.

Artists Against 419 (AA419), an international volunteer group dedicated to identifying and shutting down scam sites, has a list of over 160,000 fake websites.

Another indicator of potential fraud is if a user is not redirected to their bank’s 3D secure page or mobile app to confirm the transaction.

3D Secure adds an additional layer of security to online transactions by requiring two-factor authentication for transactions.

Sabric also suggested that shoppers choose a strong password or passphrase when registering on a secure site and never save it on any device. The same goes for payment credentials.

For most people, remembering strong and unique passwords for every sensitive website they have an account at is impossible, so it’s advisable to use a reputed password manager.

Considering that these fake websites aim to steal personal information, it is never a good idea to share personal information such as ID numbers or date of birth — something retailers don’t need to process an order.