Bank Windhoek urges vigilance against fraudsters’ tricks

Bank Windhoek has launched a campaign to encourage customers to stop, think and protect themselves when confronted with suspicious messages or requests.

Executive officer of marketing and corporate communication services Jacquiline Pack on Tuesday said the campaign’s primary focus is vulnerable customers who are mainly targeted by scammers.

“While fraud affects everyone, the campaign’s primary focus is on our most vulnerable customers, emphasising the elderly and less tech-savvy. The goal is to reduce fraud incidents through behavioural change,” she said.

She added, ‘Your Bank Would Never’ fraud campaign, focuses on distinguishing Bank Windhoek from fraudsters by highlighting behaviours and requests that a bank would never engage in.

Pack said customers are tricked into giving confidential information.

“The prevailing scams fraudsters use to defraud customers are linked to phishing techniques where customers are persuaded to disclose confidential private banking information. Fraudsters create a sense of urgency with the customer in that fraud is noticed and the caller can assist the customer in preventing and recovering losses.”

Pack urged customers to not disclose personal information.

“The most important thing to remember when a customer gets a call is the basic rule, which is never to disclose personal banking information, including login usernames, passwords, personal banking personal identity numbers (PINs), the card verification value, one time pins and a unique token number to access an account, to anyone including a person introducing themselves as calling from your bank,” she said.

She said bank employees will never ask the customer for a PIN. “Immediately end the call, initiate a call to your bank’s contact centre and report the earlier suspicious call. It is a good idea to always have your bank’s contact centre phone number on your phone.

“The bank supports and conducts regular fraud awareness internally and externally, educating staff and customers from falling victim to fraudulent activities. We have continuous fraud awareness campaigns in our constant efforts to combat fraud,” she said.