Criminals are increasingly cashing in on the growing popularity of tap-to-pay contactless payments in South Africa. Along with the convenience of tapping ones bank card, using your smartphone or smartwatch at a point-of-sale (POS) machine, comes the risk of fraud.
An alarming increase in digital payment fraud has been reported as scheming scammers target unsuspecting victims at the service stations and till points.
Tap-to-pay fraud at petrol stations - What to knowImagine youre paying for petrol and someone is standing near you, said Richard Frost, product head from cyber security company Armata, told BusinessTech .
Theyre talking on their phone, its completely normal. Nothing to worry about, right? Well, until you tap the point-of-sale device with your card, that is.
As you tap, that person taps your card, and the money comes off twice - once for the petrol and once for the fraudster, explained Frost.
All you need is a credit card machine in your pocketIts an incredibly easy scam to perpetrate as well. All you need is a credit card machine in your pocket, and you can take any amount you want from someones card when they use the tap-to-pay function.
By the time the consumer gets the two notifications from their bank, the fraudster has already vanished into thin air.
You can spend quite a lot of money in one tap, which means that the skimming devices designed to siphon the funds at the moment of payment can really hit people hard, said Frost.
How to thwart card scammers effortsAccording to him, the best way to protect your hard-earned savings, is to disable your bank cards tap function or to insert it into a card machine and use your PIN.
Frost added that another option is to rather use your cellphone with a virtual card or one of the digital wallet payment services.
Cellphones have more security than bank cards when it comes to contactless payments. Photo: iStockIn the video clip, a potential card scammer place some items he intends to buy at the till while casually conversing with the cashier.
He then tells the victim to go in front of him to pay for her goods.
When she pays by using the tap-to-pay function of her card, the criminal strikes. He can be seen moving close enough to use his smartphone to scan the card using software that likely clones the cards details.
This all happens without the victims knowledge or notification that their card has been scanned.
Tap-Tap!!! Be careful of Card Scammers. The victim had no clue that her card was being cloned or that she was being scammed. #CrimeWatch pic.twitter.com/TWXJ9BIGpO Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) March 12, 2024 What technology do scammers use for tap-to-pay fraud?According to the Ombudsman for Banking Services South Africa (OBSSA) , this scam works by exploiting near-field communication (NFC) technology and tap-and-go payment systems.
NFC technology scams involve fraudsters using stolen bank card information, such as the card number, expiry date, and CVV number, to make fraudulent purchases through digital wallets.
The OBSSA explained that fraudsters use stolen card information to link their smart devices, such as smartphones and smartwatches, to payment platforms like Samsung Pay, Apple Pay, Garmin Pay and Google Pay.
The Ombudsman confirmed hundreds of NFC fraud-related complaints have recently formally been reported and investigated by the mediators office.
