PODCAST | FNB warns of criminals increasingly exploiting digital wallets

The security risks associated with digital payments is the focus of this edition of Business Day Spotlight. 

Host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Chris Boxall, FNB’s head of card transactions and fraud detection. 

In the push to reduce the use of cash in the economy, banks and other payment service providers are warning of the risks that come with digital transactions. 

According to Boxall, digital wallet users who are insufficiently informed about how digital wallets work remain at the mercy of smishing and phishing attacks from increasingly sophisticated criminals. 

In one example, he said: “We’re seeing a rise in attacks that aim to convince users to send through an OTP as part of a fraudulent process. Although the wording for online transaction and digital wallet OTPs differs, the user might not notice this, and the OTP will actually be used to verify the loading of their debit or credit card to a completely separate digital wallet.”

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“Once the criminal has loaded this card to their own device, they are able to use their own biometrics to verify transactions made from the device.”

The banker highlights some of the ways in which criminals are working to defraud people of their hard-earned money online, while explaining some of the steps that the financial services industry has taken to protect customers. 

Boxall highlights the growth of digital payments; trend in payments technology; ways in which people are being targeted; different methods of attack and compromise; and how people can protect themselves from needlessly losing money. 

Business Day Spotlight is a MultimediaLIVE Production. 

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