WINDHOEK – As the holiday season approaches, Bank Windhoek has warned clients and the general public to be vigilant and prevent financial fraud, which is normally rampant during the festive season.
Financial fraud includes, amongst others, phishing, ATM fraud, card fraud and identity fraud. One of the common types of fraud is phishing, a process by which someone obtains your private information through devious means in order to fraudulently assume your identity and ultimately gain control over your bank account. It includes fraudulent e-mail messages, sms messages and bogus telephone calls that lure clients to provide their personal information. Bank Windhoek would therefore like to urge clients to be cautious as fraudsters continuously come up with innovative ways such as setting up fake websites similar to the original bank’s website and sending e-mails using the bank’s logo as a validation of their supposed authenticity.
“Throughout the year, Bank Windhoek sent out a number of media releases warning clients not to respond to fraudulent e-mails, sms messages or telephone calls. Clients should therefore take responsibility and exercise caution since phishing depends entirely on the victim’s cooperation,” said Ina Muir, Forensic Auditor at Bank Windhoek.
In addition, the Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) has also warned the public that fraudulent letters are in circulation.
These letters apparently invite clients and prospective clients to DBN meetings.
However, the letters request clients’ personal information, business plans and other documents.
“Please be aware that these are fraudulent letters and a malicious attempt to gain access to individuals’ and businesses’ banking details,” warned the DBN. The following are tips that can help clients identify fraudulent e-mail or sms messages:
• Incorrect spelling and poor grammar
Professional companies or organisations usually have copy editors that will not allow a mass e-mail or sms to be distributed to users containing mistakes.
• Beware of links in e-mails/sms messages
If you see a link in an e-mail or sms, do not click on it, but delete the message without reacting.
• Threats
The fraudsters rely on the anxiousness of recipients that an account might be closed or an excess amount withdrawn if the actions required in the e-mail are not followed.
• Embedded websites
Scam artists use graphics in e-mails that appear to be connected to legitimate websites, but actually take the user to a phony site.
Although the website might look real, the hyperlink or embedded website attached is often a completely different address than the link that appears on the e-mail.
• Poor quality images
Whether it is a letterhead or another image that look authentic, these images are usually of a poor quality, as the fraudsters draw the images off the company’s website.
This causes the image to be of a low quality and pixilated.
By Staff Reporter