THE South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) says debit card fraud decreased by 8.5% while credit card fraud increased by 1%, from R434 million in 2016 to R436.7m in 2017.
It's reported that the decrease seen in debit card fraud is due to a reduction in lost, stolen and counterfeit card fraud.
SABRIC's CEO Kalyani Pillay said criminals are always adjusting their tactics to take advantage of innovations in the banking landscape.
She however, said a collaborative model ensures that together with the banks they are responsive and address the issue efficiently and effectively.
According to SABRIC, lost and stolen credit card fraud saw a 44.5% increase and accounted for 5.9% of overall gross fraud losses in 2017 occurring in South Africa.
"Criminals mostly stole, swopped or installed card entrapment devices at ATMs and then shoulder surfed victims to obtain their PINs," Pillay said.
2017 also saw a significant decrease in counterfeit card fraud, continuing the trend for 2016.
Pillay added that counterfeit debit card fraud saw a decrease of 32.2%, with losses of R65.3m, while counterfeit credit card fraud decreased by 23.2%, with losses of R83.6m.
"Always protect your personal information and do not under any circumstances share PINs, One-Time PINs or any other authentication information with anyone. Your bank will never ask you for these," Pillay said.
