TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentral TechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      Unlawful Eskom strike costing South Africa three stages of load shedding

      1 July 2022

      Striking Eskom workers will face consequences: De Ruyter

      1 July 2022

      The AI tool that has changed my life as a developer

      1 July 2022

      Google.co.za is down and the domain is pending deletion

      1 July 2022

      US files charges over South African bitcoin fraud scheme

      1 July 2022
    • World

      Meta girds for ‘fierce’ headwinds

      1 July 2022

      Graphics card prices plummet as crypto demand dries up

      30 June 2022

      Bitcoin just had its worst quarter in a decade

      30 June 2022

      Samsung beats TSMC to 3nm chip production

      30 June 2022

      Napster plots crypto comeback

      29 June 2022
    • In-depth

      The NFT party is over

      30 June 2022

      The great crypto crash: the fallout, and what happens next

      22 June 2022

      Goodbye, Internet Explorer – you really won’t be missed

      19 June 2022

      Oracle’s database dominance threatened by rise of cloud-first rivals

      13 June 2022

      Everything Apple announced at WWDC – in less than 500 words

      7 June 2022
    • Podcasts

      How your organisation can triage its information security risk

      22 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E06 – ‘Apple Silicon’

      15 June 2022

      The youth might just save us

      15 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E05 – ‘Nvidia: The Green Goblin’

      8 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E04 – ‘The story of Intel – part 2’

      1 June 2022
    • Opinion

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022

      Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

      13 June 2022

      A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

      19 May 2022

      From spectrum to roads, why fixing SA’s problems is an uphill battle

      19 April 2022

      How AI is being deployed in the fight against cybercriminals

      8 April 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»News»Inside job in FNB, MTN Sim-swap scam?

    Inside job in FNB, MTN Sim-swap scam?

    News By Agency Staff2 March 2016
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email

    FNB-MVNO-640

    A forensic investigator has alleged an inside job at First National Bank and MTN in a Sim-swap scam that pilfers customers of hundreds of thousands of rands.

    Private consulting forensic scientist David Klatzow says his client, Cape Town audiologist Gail Jacklin, lost over R200 000 from the scam earlier this year. Klatzow said his client hasn’t been reimbursed by FNB.

    Klatzow said MTN failed to prevent an unauthorised Sim swap of Jacklin’s phone, which resulted in fraudsters stealing from her FNB accounts.

    But he said he knows of at least another 20 cases of the same scam with the same modus operandi, and he has alleged an inside job at both FNB and MTN. Cape Town talk radio station Cape Talk has also reported that a number of its listeners have also reportedly been victims of this scam.

    “The evidence seems to show that there is somebody within the bank and within MTN who has access to your details,” Klatzow said.

    “And what happens is, in many instances, and in my particular client’s instance, her phone went on the blink,” he said.

    Klatzow explained that the scam typically involves a banking customer’s phone becoming inoperable, after which money is stolen from the victim’s bank accounts.

    He has further alleged that an unknown insider at FNB targets “a certain strata of bank accounts”.

    This insider then allegedly works with somebody at MTN to put a phone “on the blink” and thereby arrange for a Sim swap to aid the crime, explained the investigator.

    Once the Sim swap has been completed, the scammer can then access sensitive details such as Internet banking one-time Pin codes to carry out the crime, said Klatzow.

    “Once they know you’ve got significant funds in there, they target you — that cannot be done without the assistance of the bank,” he said.

    FNB responds

    FNB, in its response to a query about this alleged scam, did not detail the circumstances around Klatzow’s client’s experience of fraud.

    However, the bank said that “phishing as a means of fraud has been a problem for many years”.

    “We continually warn and educate our customers to never release their confidential banking information, or to respond to unsolicited e-mail including threats to close their accounts if they do not ‘update’ their information via a link provided or offers of prizes/refunds via a link in an e-mail,” said the company.

    The bank further urged customers to “protect their login details at all times” and to contact the bank if their phone suspiciously loses connectivity.

    FNB further said that it employs “a robust security framework which is multilayered”

    At the time of writing, MTN had not responded to a request for comment.

    Doubts over phishing

    Klatzow, though, said he doubts FNB’s statement that phishing is to blame in this instance.

    “The two companies involved would love you to believe that this is phishing and that people are inadvertently giving out their banking details. That is not so,” he said.

    “Now, there is no way that somebody on a phishing scam could put your phone on the blink,” he added.

    The forensic investigator further said that if FNB and MTN fail to address the problem, a class action lawsuit could be initiated against the companies.

    “It’s got very bad, it’s become chronic and there is a very serious outbreak of this epidemic now. But the banks have known about this and they’ve created a platform which is ultra vulnerable,” said Klatzow.

    Fin24

    David Klatzow First National Bank FNB MTN
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleWhy e-commerce is lagging in SA
    Next Article No wholesale SOE privatisation: Ramaphosa

    Related Posts

    Unlawful Eskom strike costing South Africa three stages of load shedding

    1 July 2022

    Striking Eskom workers will face consequences: De Ruyter

    1 July 2022

    The AI tool that has changed my life as a developer

    1 July 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    Billetterie simplifies interactions between law firms and clients

    30 June 2022

    Think herding cats is tricky? Try herding a cloud

    29 June 2022

    How your business can help hybrid workers effectively

    28 June 2022
    Opinion

    Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

    21 June 2022

    Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

    13 June 2022

    A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

    19 May 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.