World Fraud Awareness Day

FNB warns of identity theft and account take-over

21 November: As part of World Fraud Awareness Week, FNB Namibia wishes to educate customers about identity theft and subsequent account take-overs which seem to have become more prevalent.

Ingrid Kahona-Katjiukua, FNB Namibia Forensics: “The definition of account takeover is obtaining a legitimate user’s details to take over their online accounts, usually enabling monetary theft.
For financial institutions fraudulent money movements and other malicious activities affect our customers directly but can also be a sign of money laundering.”
Cyber criminals can use various pieces of personal data to initiate an account take-over, including email address, full names, or a birth date.
It doesn’t have to be sensitive information like a bank account number. They can obtain this information through phis-hing scams, malware, social media, and other practices. Any business or consumer could be a target.
“We wish to alert our customers about this type of fraud and offer several steps consumers can take to protect themselves from attack.”
Kahona-Katjiukua says to consider the following precautions:
Keep track of your bank sms notifications. Should you suspect any fraud con-tact the bank immediately. Avoid using the same password on multiple accounts. By using the same pass-word, if one account is compromised, it potentially makes it easier for a cyber-criminal to gain access to additional accounts that use the same login information.
Change passwords often. Stay one step ahead of cyber criminals by updating pass-words periodically. Be sure to use complex passwords (pass-words using upper and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters).
Limit outsider access to social media ac-counts.
Cyber criminals mine social media for personal information they can use to exploit your accounts.
Change the settings on your accounts so only people to whom you grant access can see your social media activity.
Keep an eye on your financial accounts. Watch your banking and credit card statements for suspicious activity. Use online banking when possible to monitor trans-actions more frequently. If you see a transaction you don’t recognise, contact us immediately.