Combat rising crime and fraud on the Web

The Sunday Times yesterday published a survey: Experts say country experienced highest attacks recently on crime and fraud on the Internet.

In the lead article, Web crime on the rise in SA, SABRIC warns that Internet fraud is on the increase, despite media attention over the past weeks. The number of phishing scams sent out to consumers continues to increase in South Africa. They are also becoming increasingly sophisticated.


Following a temporary drop in abuse of the Internet banking channel in April/May 2009, fraud on this channel escalated at an unprecedented rate, to the extent that South Africa now ranks as the third most victimised country, behind the US and UK. This can be attributed in part to the sophisticated technology and the "First World" banking system that this country enjoys. Also, like the former two countries, English is the working language for the banking industry, and it is the language used in phishing.

One of SABRIC's roles is to combat banking crime. Its key stakeholders are the big banks in South Africa. Most Internet banking crime in South Africa occurs as a result of phishing. SABRIC CEO Kalyani Pillay, pictured above, says it would be more helpful if the term was left as "Internet banking crime", as many people do not understand "phishing".

SABRIC's job is to educate bank clients on the dangers of phishing and what measures they can take to safeguard their bank accounts. That is what this feature aims to do, says Pillay. "Phishing refers to a form of personal information theft perpetrated through e-mails. This does not mean that personal information cannot be phished through other means, such as by telephone or SMS. It is just that the use of the e-mail is currently the most widespread throughout the financial industry," she says.

See article for more.

Other articles published in the survey are:

* Banking industry helping to spread the Net
* Here's what you must do should you take the bait
* Refund frauds
* When you shouldn't reveal all
* Phished? Phone!
* Ugly world of criminals who go phishing
* Internet fraud in a nutshell
* How crooks go for bank details
* Don't become a victim of online scamming
* Caution paramount for clients and users
* Bank setting the protection standard
* Phishers strike less often, but do more damage
* Safe banking - for free
* Take heed of this advice
* Absa clients warned about fraud
* Bank ensures client protection