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ON SATURDAY morning at about 2am somebody helped themselves to R1 000 out of my bank account, using my debit card in Hillbrow. The only catch is that my debit card was sitting safe and sound in my wallet in Randburg.
I had just become a victim of card skimming.
OK, we live in South Africa so bad things might happen from time to time. It's a nuisance and it's a bit unpleasant to know somebody so easily gained access to my account, but I'll live.
I went through the procedure of cancelling the card and filling in the forms at Standard Bank. I made some snarky comments online about not trusting their ATMs in the future, as well as about being nailed with service fees and having to pay for a new ATM card. I think I said something about feeling like I had been robbed twice.
Other horror stories came out, including customers who had lost various amounts of between R10 000 and R30 000 which made my tiny little complaint pale in comparison.
What I found interesting though was the level of disinterest from people in banking circles when I started asking questions about security and the war on crime in South Africa.
Each year we are told that banks are forced to keep their fees high because of maintaining security standards, repairing ATMs after they are blown up and paying armed guards to transfer money, so logically you should be able to ask FNB, Standard, Absa or Nedbank how much these crimes cost these listed organisations each year.
Not so. Media enquiries were deflected off to the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric), with the reply that banks themselves do not disclose these amounts.
Cold comfort for banking crime victims
In other words as a consumer and shareholder in these organisations, I can't do research and make an informed decision about which banking group is doing the most to protect my money. Interesting, but perhaps a topic for another column altogether.
What I found more interesting was the response from other people in banking channels when I reported this theft.
When I asked the call centre whether I should report it to the police station or to the organisations where I had last used my card - Engen Garage Ferndale for an ATM withdrawal and Fratellis in Ferndale for lunch - the response was that it was not necessary as their fraud department would make enquiries.
So it's a crime I mustn't report to the police, nor to the business owners who may potentially have criminals working for them?
The consultant at Standard Bank Randburg also said that while they may have video footage of people entering branches where ATMs are located - even at 2am in the morning - they had few if any prosecutions.
The more I chat to people in the industry on this subject, the more I get the feedback that banks are really taking some pain when it comes to these "silent" crimes like phishing and card skimming.
When it comes to cash in transit heists, people can see the odd news headline that robbers have been gunned down by cops or security teams. But what solace is there for customers who have had their savings lifted?
Maybe the answer goes beyond the banks simply trying to keep everything under wraps and saying they will refund clients if fraud is detected.
Willem Smith, the CEO of insurer iWyze, has just been on a media campaign talking about how insurance fraud doesn't pay. He has been out telling existing and prospective clients that his company has a fraud unit which spends time investigating claims, which results in people being legally punished.
In three years of covering the banking sector, I haven't once received any information from a bank about people who have been caught out, or how any financial institution has been successful in winning the war on banking crime.
I don't want to be overly dramatic but each time one of these crimes goes unpunished, it grates away at the integrity of the banking system. Considering that this is largely built on trust, perhaps we need to be spending time making sure this remains intact.
- Fin24
I had just become a victim of card skimming.
OK, we live in South Africa so bad things might happen from time to time. It's a nuisance and it's a bit unpleasant to know somebody so easily gained access to my account, but I'll live.
I went through the procedure of cancelling the card and filling in the forms at Standard Bank. I made some snarky comments online about not trusting their ATMs in the future, as well as about being nailed with service fees and having to pay for a new ATM card. I think I said something about feeling like I had been robbed twice.
Other horror stories came out, including customers who had lost various amounts of between R10 000 and R30 000 which made my tiny little complaint pale in comparison.
What I found interesting though was the level of disinterest from people in banking circles when I started asking questions about security and the war on crime in South Africa.
Each year we are told that banks are forced to keep their fees high because of maintaining security standards, repairing ATMs after they are blown up and paying armed guards to transfer money, so logically you should be able to ask FNB, Standard, Absa or Nedbank how much these crimes cost these listed organisations each year.
Not so. Media enquiries were deflected off to the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric), with the reply that banks themselves do not disclose these amounts.
Cold comfort for banking crime victims
In other words as a consumer and shareholder in these organisations, I can't do research and make an informed decision about which banking group is doing the most to protect my money. Interesting, but perhaps a topic for another column altogether.
What I found more interesting was the response from other people in banking channels when I reported this theft.
When I asked the call centre whether I should report it to the police station or to the organisations where I had last used my card - Engen Garage Ferndale for an ATM withdrawal and Fratellis in Ferndale for lunch - the response was that it was not necessary as their fraud department would make enquiries.
So it's a crime I mustn't report to the police, nor to the business owners who may potentially have criminals working for them?
The consultant at Standard Bank Randburg also said that while they may have video footage of people entering branches where ATMs are located - even at 2am in the morning - they had few if any prosecutions.
The more I chat to people in the industry on this subject, the more I get the feedback that banks are really taking some pain when it comes to these "silent" crimes like phishing and card skimming.
When it comes to cash in transit heists, people can see the odd news headline that robbers have been gunned down by cops or security teams. But what solace is there for customers who have had their savings lifted?
Maybe the answer goes beyond the banks simply trying to keep everything under wraps and saying they will refund clients if fraud is detected.
Willem Smith, the CEO of insurer iWyze, has just been on a media campaign talking about how insurance fraud doesn't pay. He has been out telling existing and prospective clients that his company has a fraud unit which spends time investigating claims, which results in people being legally punished.
In three years of covering the banking sector, I haven't once received any information from a bank about people who have been caught out, or how any financial institution has been successful in winning the war on banking crime.
I don't want to be overly dramatic but each time one of these crimes goes unpunished, it grates away at the integrity of the banking system. Considering that this is largely built on trust, perhaps we need to be spending time making sure this remains intact.
- Fin24
