All banks and creditors have been impacted by the Experian data breach which saw 24 million personal details exposed to potential fraudsters. Capitec Bank has sent out warnings to all its clients to stay alert and to bank safely. iBusiness reported the hack of South Africa’s largest credit bureau, which also affected almost 800 000 businesses.
‘Experian, one of South Africa’s largest credit bureaus, informed us of a data breach which may affect some of our clients.’ Capitec writes.
‘Capitec and other financial institutions use bureaus to verify clients’ credit status and debt commitments when they apply for credit.’
Nedbank, Standard Bank and FNB also have sent out a warning about the massive data breach. Capitec is working with relevant authorities to ensure all the clients are protected. Capitec indicated that the information breached cannot be used to access your banking fraudsters but can be used for phishing (Scams) where they may pose as the bank or any financial institution to trick you into sharing further personal information and so they can have full access to your bank account.
No bank can contact you and ask for your banking PIN or account numbers.
‘If you think your personal information was compromised, apply for a free Protective Registration listing with the Southern Africa Fraud Prevention Service (SAFPS). This service will alert banks and credit providers that your identity has been compromised and that they must take extra steps to confirm that they are dealing with the legitimate identity holder. To apply for a Protective Registration, contact SAFPS at protection@safps.org.za‘
You are requested not to share your banking information with anyone. Change your passwords and PINs regularly and never share them with anyone. You should keep your banking devices locked at all times. Use your Capitec app to set your card and online shopping limit. You can set them to ‘0’ when you don’t use them.
