3
SA’s
most
eyebrow raising
Cybercrimes
We’ve been hearing for quite some time about the very real threat of cybercrime
globally, and if you still think that the southern tip of Africa is exempt, think again.
Ryan Noik investigates three audacious local cybercrimes.
1
15 million reasons to beware
One of the more recent cybercrimes saw a syndicate comprising of 54
individuals hauled into court last month, on charges of fraud, money
laundering, racketeering and theft. The group had apparently been
running an extensive phishing scam to gain access to people’s banking
details, while also utilising SIM swaps and identity theft to rob its victims.
The syndicate subsequently opened fake store accounts using the
information, and also used cloned identities to access credit facilities.
On one occasion they managed to siphon off almost R7 million from 21
accounts in a mere 24 hours. On a separate occasion, 30 accounts were
compromised to the tune of an additional R3.1 million.
2
Going postal
One of the largest and most audacious cybercrimes committed locally
involved a whopping R42 million stolen from the Post Bank. The theft
was committed at the beginning of last year by a syndicate with inside
knowledge of the Post Office’s IT system, and culminated in th ????????)??????????????????????????????????????????????A???=???????((??()Q??????????????????????????????????A??????????????)???????M????????????????????????????Q???????????)?????????????????????????????????????????A???=?????)???????e?????????????????????????????????????????????)????????????????????????????????????????????????????????)???????????Q??????????????????Q7?e??????????????????????)???????????????????????????????????((?()M???????????e???????????()%?????????????????????????????????????????????????e?????)???????????e?????????????????????????????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????
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