Banks Advised to Be Vigilant About Credit Card Fraud During Soccer World Cup

With South Africa’s much-awaited Soccer World Cup just around the corner Australian banks are being warned about the potential increase in credit card fraud.

Protection for tourists from Credit Card Fraud during the World Cup

The SA government is planning to put some protective measures in place to prevent a mass hysteria should tourists get attacked by criminals. We all know that SA isn’t exactly known to be a safe heaven. Therefore a planned fast-track system will be implemented to enable visitors to give evidence against the perpetrators while still in South Africa.

Consumer alert

Consumers are advised to be extra careful when using their credit card during the event since fraud is rife even without the soccer. The South African Banking Risk Information Centre reported that counterfeit card fraud was the most costly type of fraud in 2009. It had increased to R144 million, a 22 per cent rise.

ACI Worldwide’s Fraud Consultancy, Michelle Weatherhead recommends the following to visitors of the South African Soccer World Cup: ‘Fighting fraud is a complex and ongoing challenge for banks. They need to find the balance between adequately preventing fraud and not blocking transactions incorrectly and therefore inconveniencing their customers. When customers are traveling overseas, it is more important that ever that the fraud detection tools work first time, every time.”

‘There are a number of different techniques that banks should use to ensure that they can accurately identify fraud. The first is very straightforward – banks should encourage their customers to tell them if they are traveling overseas and make sure they have a way to incorporate this information into the fraud detection rules. This will help ensure that the bank is less likely to falsely stop a genuine transaction. In addition, banks must educate their customers about basic card security, including common mistakes, so that they can endeavor to prevent fraud as soon as possible.”

‘In the case of the world cup in South Africa, banks are likely to have a greater number of tourists in one region and they also know that criminals are likely to be specifically targeting visitors to the event. In this instance banks must train their analysts on fraud trends in that country or location in advance, and make sure they can hit the ground running once the cards start being used.”

‘It is important that card transactions are monitored in real time, to identify fraudulent attempts as the earliest possible opportunity to prevent fraud losses. This real time monitoring should use everything that the bank knows about the customer and their usual spending patterns, combined with a hot list of known fraud identifiers such as a risky terminal or a fraudulent sequence of events, to flag up suspicious transactions. Banks should also share information with their peers, to identify fraud trends and respond as quickly as possible.”

‘Finally, banks should implement bi-directional phone alerting, such as using SMS, to enable them to send alerts or calls to individuals’ mobile phones whenever a transaction occurs that is flagged as suspicious, or is outside pre-defined parameters. Once the customer receives the message they respond to block their card immediately, if it is fraudulent.”

‘While banks may already have some or all of these fraud preventative measures in place, they should also be taking more simple measures such as planning ahead by looking at the dates and venues where the football games will take place. That way they can anticipate where and when transaction levels, and therefore the potential for fraud, are going to increase.’

Be vigilant and sleep better at night

It can never hurt to be careful when travelling in a potential hostile country. The last thing you’d want is financial issues while still away from home.

A few extra safety tips might help:

• Keep all transaction receipts
• Don’t carry large amounts of cash
• Consider using a debit card instead that way your potential loss is limited to the card limit, even so your bank guarantees your card against fraud
• Consider using travellers cheques instead. They might be bothersome but they are safe. Use your card only in large hotels and establishments.

Despite all the warnings, remember to have fun!

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