DIAL UP YOUR SECURITY

With everything that we have to worry about, we now have more added to that list – rising banking and phone fraud.

Discovery Bank has issued a warning about the rise in fraud cases in South Africa. 

It has alerted its banking clients to the increase in the number of scammers who pretend to be banking officials, so that they can steal sensitive information.

These skelms often call and say they are from a bank’s fraud team. They then tell clients that there are suspicious transactions on their account, and then fool them into giving their banking / card details and personal information.

It’s important to know that a legitimate bank will never ask for full or partial card details to confirm or reverse a transaction, or to process a refund.

The bank warned: “Scammers call pretending to be from the bank’s fraud team, pressuring you to share your card details by claiming fraudulent transactions on your account. Banks will never ask for your full or missing card details.”

Findings of Discovery Bank’s SpendTrend25 report conducted in partnership with Visa, found that over 60 percent of respondents (in a public survey) are more concerned about banking security now than they were a year ago, and 63 percent said they have either personally experienced card fraud or know someone who has. 

A staggering 76 percent reported receiving scam messages via email, SMS, or phone calls. 

According to the report, 86 percent of respondents consider fraud protection from their bank essential. 

While 80 percent of the mense surveyed said they were confident in their bank’s ability to safeguard their money, increasingly sophisticated scams have driven more people to prioritise safer payment methods, with digital wallets and virtual cards gaining traction for their added security features.

Virtual cards are emerging as a preferred option. 

These cards are stored within secure apps and cannot be physically stolen or cloned, making them less vulnerable to fraud.

According to the SpendTrend25 survey, 45 percent of participants already use a virtual card, and others own one but haven’t made it a part of their regular spending habits.

Discovery Bank advised that customers take several proactive steps to minimise risk: 

• Switch to virtual cards where possible 
• Enable tap-to-pay features only within secure digital wallets
• Set PIN-required limits on physical cards.

The bank also recommended monitoring account activity closely by turning on transaction alerts.

Never approve transactions you didn’t initiate, or share personal or card information over the phone, even if the caller appears to be from your bank.

Phone fraud

Discovery Bank has also warned South Africans against criminals increasingly targeting smartphones to gain access to their banking apps and digital wallets.

Once a phone is stolen, fraudsters can bypass security features by decrypting or jailbreaking it and adding their own biometric data. 

This allows the skelms to access digital wallets or make unauthorised transactions. 

The bank urged customers to treat their phones as seriously as they would their bank cards and to act immediately if their devices are lost or stolen. 

They gave the following tips: 

• Use strong PINs and passwords
• Avoid easy-to-guess passwords like birthdays
• Never save banking credentials on your phone
• Regularly check your accounts for suspicious activity

If your phone, tablet or computer goes missing, call your bank immediately to block it and change all financial passwords.

The issue of mobile phone theft is escalating. Data from the South African Police Service (SAPS) revealed a troubling increase in stolen devices. 

On average, 189 cellphones are stolen each day. Between April 2017 and March 2023, SAPS recorded 412 998 stolen handsets, but only 29 percent of them were blacklisted by mobile service providers.

However, the problem may be significantly worse. Between October 2024 and January 2025, SAPS recovered 116 293 stolen phones, an average of 1 292 per day.

Besides losing your money, you have to go through so much trauma and the effort when something like this happens. 

You have to make a case, alert your bank, cancel your cards, change your passwords, and so much more. 

So rather be safe than sorry, and be extra careful with your cards and your phone.