South African banking group Absa’s forensic team is probing several cases of internet fraud. This follows incidents where three clients in the Western Cape have had money removed from their accounts by a hacker who gained unauthorised access to their computers.
Absa said in a statement that the individual gained access to a number of clients’ computers and loaded an application — known as key-stroke logging software — which automatically copied everything they typed on their computers and sent it back to the hacker without their knowledge.
The software therefore transmitted information about the bank accounts typed in by the clients to the hacker, who was then able to use this information to electronically impersonate the client and gain access to their bank accounts. A further six cases are under investigation, it said.
Absa said in a statement that a small number of internet account holders in South Africa have become victims of the latest international trend in internet fraud called identity theft. Absa and the rest of the banking industry are working together to combat this new crime.
“Fraudsters are beginning to realise how difficult it is to breach bank security systems and are now targeting the home computers of account holders by stealing their electronic identity, mainly their PIN and access account numbers,” said Richard Peasey, Absa Group Information Security Officer.
“Absa’s forensic team is progressing with the investigation,” said Peasey.
Absa said all their transactions are monitored 24 hours per day, seven days a week, all year round. Absa has called a meeting of all the information security officers in the banking industry to find ways of stopping this form of crime.
“All the banks including Absa have been putting information on their websites and in their banking halls for internet banking clients about safety precautions that they should take to protect their personal information.
“Internet banking is safe and clients need to be more vigilant than ever to ensure that it stays safe,” he said. – I-Net Bridge