Scam: “a dishonest plan for making money or getting an advantage, especially one that involves tricking people”. [1]
More people are making more frequent use of modern banking methods such as ATMs, online banking and, more recently, banking apps. This, unfortunately, includes the risk of various cybercrimes, such as phishing & pharming.
In this post:
Required knowledge:
1. Banking websites & apps
- HTTPS websites & apps using encrypted data.
- On-screen keypads to input PINs, thus avoiding the risk posed by keyloggers.
- SMS and/or e-mail notifications to alert the client to transactions made on their account.
- OTPs are required for key transactions, such as adding a beneficiary.
- Debit and credit cards with chips.
- Education: banks inform clients of safety risks and scams.
People pose the greatest risk and education is the best approach to protect them against cybercrime.
2. Education
To protect their customers, financial institutions inform their clients of safety risks and scams.
The below notification appeared on the Nedbank banking app. It was not possible to proceed without clicking the green “I acknowledge” button at the end of the notice.
An SMS reminding bank customers against sharing security details such as PINs and OTPs..
Of course, the ultimate responsibility lies with the client to always take all the necessary precautions to ensure their own safety.
3. What does the future hold?
Many people have moved to secure banking apps to avoid falling victim to cybercrimes such as phishing and pharming.
Wouldn’t it be cool if your transactions were limited geographically? Just like you can set limits on the amount of each transaction or the total amount transferred in a 24-hour period, a bank card could be set to only allow transactions on machines within a certain geographical area (geo-fencing). You could update these geo-fences before and after travelling on holiday or link your account to a GPS-enabled smartphone, etc.
AI and big data could also be used to identify and report suspicious transactions by tracking patterns of physical movement and historical spending data.
References:
- Cambridge Dictionary. (no date) scam. Available at: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/scam (Accessed: 6 November 2023).