Cybercrime growth continues unabated in South Africa!

Those of us born well before the 1970’s will remember the solid and secure world of banking we enjoyed “back in the day”.  We got to know the folk behind the counters personally [tellers, managers etc] and could rely on the services they provided.  We paid for things in cash or by cheque bearing our signature.  Those friendly and reliable experiences built significant trust between us and our bankers.

Many of these “oldies” may still carry that level of “banking trust” into the modern era – and sadly do so at their own peril.  The considerable convenience of the digital age has brought with it a clear shift in the attitudes of Banks who will often point fingers away from themselves and deny responsibility when clients suffer losses.  This despite the recurring reports of data breaches in most of our local Banks perpetrated or facilitated by their own employees.

While our primary function at Finlaw is to provide investment advice, we have seen too many folks suffer banking losses which oftentimes could have been avoided.  So here come some tips [which you are welcome to share with friends and families] to help reduce your chances of suffering Bank losses in the future: –

• Pay attention to your debit & credit card limits – and reduce these to the lowest level that remains convenient on a day to day / monthly basis. Pay attention to each of the category limits your Bank provides [Daily, Monthly etc].  Be wary of default limits that may have been set by your Bank for you.  For e.g. a limit of R500,000 means that a fraudster who gets hold of your card account could easily cause you to lose half a million Rand!
• Bank provided ATM’s – This is definitely where danger lurks and criminals come to play. The syndicates have developed many technical tools including hidden cameras recording your PIN as you capture it, keyboard overlays to record your PIN – slot inserts to clone the information on the magnetic stripe on your card etc.  Be especially wary if your card does not slide into the slot easily – or is difficult to remove. If the card is not returned to you immediately – phone your Bank straight away and cancel the card!
• Switch to paying with your Mobile phone – There are three main options here, but you must have a relatively recent mobile phone [say less than 5 years old]. If you have an Apple phone, stick to setting up the Apple Pay App / if you have a Samsung Phone then set up the Samsung Wallet App – and if you have any other “Android” phone, set up Google Wallet.  If need be – get your Bank branch to help you set it up.  It is FAR more secure paying with the phone app than with your actual Bank card – even though your card details are needed when adding it to the Wallet. When you make payments a randomised account number is used by the “virtual” card created by the Wallet – so your actual Bank card details are never shared.  I have personally used Samsung Wallet for an extended period – and have not had any issues using it to pay at shops and any place when you can “Tap” to pay [parking pay points, some Tolls, some ATMs etc].  Also – instead of using an ATM to get cash – use your phone in any of the stores that support cash payouts after purchasing goods – and you will avoid the most common pitfall in your personal banking security – ATM’s!.
• Never ever provide details to anyone who phones you ostensibly from your Bank – This is probably the most common fraud being perpetrated and the most likely to have been a result of an internal security breach within your bank. The “friendly” caller claims to be phoning from your Bank [with a phone number often similar to the official one] and tells you they suspect there may be some fraudulent activities on your account.  The caller knows your name, cell number and even your home address and/or ID number – so you think he/she is legitimate.  You are then told that in order to stop the fraud you will receive an OTP [One Time Password] on your phone which you must give them to “block” the transaction.  In fact, it has the opposite purpose and will actually ALLOW a fraudulent transaction to go through when you provide the OTP.  If this happens – you are on your own and the Bank will likely not compensate you.  If you receive such a call – tell the caller you will NOT provide ANY information to him/her – but will instead phone your bankers on the phone numbers the Bank provides to you on your card. 

We hope the above is a reminder of how vulnerable we can be if we don’t take personal steps to safeguard our banking security.  Hopefully the tips will help you “retain” your wealth while we focus on maintaining and building it for you.  There are other areas where financial losses can be experienced – like online shopping, VISA applications, and investment cons promising exceptional returns but actually stealing your money. We will cover more of these in subsequent Newsletters.

Proof is in the pudding …

In our last Newsletter – end Feb 2025 – we called for calm heads in the face of the Trump turbulence which had just started to bite.    Global markets have almost fully recovered as is evident in the S&P500 share index which peaked at 6,144 on 19 February 2025 following the euphoria of Trump’s inauguration and plummeted all the way down to a shade above 5,000 by 31 March 2025.  It is now back to just above 6,000! 

Calm heads are still required – the roller coaster ride is almost certainly not over yet. We gave several examples in our February 2025 Newsletter about staying with your investment strategy and weathering the intervening storms. Back copies of all our Newsletters can be found on our website at this address https://www.finlaw.co.za/news/

The US Dollar has weakened against most currencies in the World – which is not a bad thing for the USA since it makes their exports more competitive and their imports more expensive.  Of course – with Trump throwing tariffs on top of the imports the American populace will bear the brunt of the rising prices.  The potential for an upward trend on inflation in America is real – while the rest of the World could well enjoy declining inflation rates for some time to come [ourselves included]. 

With the ZAR having moved from R19.80 in early April all the way down to R17.80 near the end of May – there has been a significant shift caused by that Dollar weakness. See the chart above and how this happens when global markets improve – so Dollar share values have gone up over the same period.

We are here to guide our clients through the volatility ahead of us all.  Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you are uncomfortable, fearful or would just enjoy to drop in for a proper cup of coffee and a chat. 

Warm regards,
John & The Finlaw Team
Finlaw Consulting