N$18.6-million bank fraud in six months

During the first half of the year, Namibians committed bank fraud to the value of N$18.6 million.

The majority of fraud incidents occurred through Electronic Fund Transfers (EFT) to the value of N$10.57 million.

Bank of Namibia (BoN) spokesperson Kazembire Zemburuka yesterday said in comparison to 2023, there has been a substantial decrease in the total value of fraud across all payment streams, during the period under review.

This excludes fraud in the EFT stream, which increased by N$2.27 million.

“The industry reported a decrease in fraud of N$7.19 million for the card stream, and N$3.76 million for the e-money stream, compared to 2023,” said Zemburuka.

According to Zemburuka, fraud involving payment cards and e-money payments dropped by 57% and 58%, respectively, while EFT fraud rose by 27%.

“Payment card fraud was mainly due to Card-Not-Present incidents occurring through internet banking and mobile applications,” said Zemburuka.

Card-Not-Present incidents include online purchases, phone orders and mail-order transactions.

EFT fraud primarily resulted from phishing attacks, while e-money fraud was largely due to phone scams affecting digital wallets.

Phishing involves sending fraudulent emails or messages that appear to be from legitimate sources, tricking victims into clicking on malicious links, or downloading attachments that contain malware or lead to fake websites designed to steal personal information, including login credentials and card details.

“For the period under review, the total fraud values were N$5.34 million for cards, N$10.57 million for EFT, and N$2.69 million for e-money,” said Zemburuka.

He advised Namibians to avoid clicking on suspicious links or providing sensitive information via email or text messages.

“Frequently check your bank statements and transaction history for any unusual activity, and report discrepancies immediately,” said Zemburuka.

According to a statement issued by BoN on Tuesday, the country’s payment system and infrastructure remain safe and contribute to ensuring reliability in payment transactions.

“The Namibia Interbank Settlement System continued to maintain high system availability during the first half of 2024,” says BoN.