Cyber thieves are out to get you... and your money

Internet banking fraud, and phishing in particular is on the increase in South Africa. The South African Banking and Risk Information Centre (Sabric) says the incidence of phishing has more than trebled since January this year.


According to research, approximately 4 million people in SA use internet banking. If you are one of them, you need to be extremely careful in order to protect yourself from this scourge.


In the latest phishing scam, bank clients receive emails that purport to be from the South African Revenue Service (SARS). The emails typically inform you that you have qualified for a tax refund and, in order to receive your refund, you need to confirm your banking details. 

Some of the email addresses you should watch out for include returns@sars.co.za and refunds@sars.co.za

The email says there may be delays in the payment of your money, which include "applying after the deadline" or submitting incorrect details. You are required to click on a link that takes you to what looks like a SARS website. You are then asked to fill in your banking details, including your credit card details. 

SARS has issued a notice that it will never ask for your personal banking details through an email request or via links to websites. You should provide your banking details on your tax return forms. 

How to protect yourself:

• Always type the web address of your bank into your browser manually.
• Keep your online banking access information such as your account number, user name, PINs and passwords secure by memorising them instead of writing them down.
• Make sure you see a lock icon at the top or at the bottom of your browser window.  This shows that you are indeed on a secure website.
• Install the latest anti-virus software on your computer and ensure that it is updated at all times.  Most banks provide free anti-virus software for their customers.
• If you use cellphone internet banking, install anti-virus software for you phone too.
• NEVER click on a link in an email to access online banking. No bank will send you an email asking you to click on a link in order to update or confirm your details online.
• Since many of the phishing scams originate from Ukraine, Russia, Nigeria and Indonesia, the grammar, punctuation and spelling in these emails is quite often bad. That alone should be a complete give away, and the warning bells in your head should start going off. 
• Although most email service providers include spam filtering, they aren't all that intelligent.  I have found that Gmail's spam filter is just about bullet-proof. I recommend signing up for a Gmail account, if you haven't got one already, and use that for all your personal email.
• Last but not least, check with your insurer if your household insurance policy includes cover for Identity Theft. If you have this cover, and you fall victim to one of these scams, you will at least have some cover for the cost of time taken off work to sort out the mess with the bank, as well as some cover for the loss itself.