A female Twitter user revealed how she was scammed out of R4000 after accidentally exposing her bank card details.
Image via Twitter
@makhosazane_sa
‘I lost R4k’: Tweep scammed after mistakenly posting bank card pic
Foolish mistake or innocent oversight? A SA woman reveals how she was conned after accidentally exposing her bank card details online…
A female Twitter user revealed how she was scammed out of R4000 after accidentally exposing her bank card details.
Image via Twitter
@makhosazane_sa
A young South African woman has shared how a foolish decision to post a selfie – which accidentally included the image of her bank card – resulted in her being scammed out of R4000.
This week, the woman – who uses the Twitter handle @makhosazane_sa and calls herself “Chakra Hun” – had the misfortune of having unauthorised transactions debited from her bank account.
WOMAN SCAMMED AFTER POSTING PIC OF BANK CARD
It all began on Tuesday 11 October, when “Chakra Hun” posted a selfie inside an e-hailing ride.
But whilst the post was supposed to show off the sweet gesture of the driver – offering the woman a popsicle – it dangerously also exposed the details on her bank card.
In the pic, the FNB card number and CVC number – which are used to make online transactions – were clear for all to see. And that’s exactly what fraudsters acted upon after the picture went viral.
“I lost R4k”, the woman tweeted not long after. According to “Chakra Hun”, strangers online used her card and CVC numbers to approve transactions on retail outlets Shein and Uber Eats.
Another bold tweep even casually asked her to approve another e-commerce transaction via her bank app – which she obviously declined!
The woman eventually blocked her card and took steps to have her transactions reversed.
She tweeted: “Yes I was relaxed but I learned my lesson now. Mistakes happen and I made a mistake I’m aware”.
The woman then vented about her bank permitting the purchases, without her approval via a One Time Pin (OTP).
She added: “Our banks should really look into how they negotiate deals with merchants…It’s our monies at stake.
“If I accidentally dropped that card or left it where ever by mistake, the same would’ve happened. I’m thinking of sticking to virtual cards”
She also revealed that she had reported the incident to police, hoping to have the perpetrators “arrested”.
CAN PURCHASES BE APPROVED WITHOUT AN OTP NUMBER?
With the woman learning a tough lesson through her careless actions, many tweeps were left concerned about being scammed in the future.
And many begged the question: Can e-commerce transactions be approved without an OTP number or via a banking app?
According to the Payments Association of South Africa (PASA), from 2014, all SA e-commerce merchants were forced to implement 3D Secure – a method of authentication security – on all credit card transactions.
However, this is not always the case for international merchants – like Shein or Uber Eats for example. This essentially means that purchases via such merchants can be made without the authorisation of the cardholder themselves.
To make matters worse, hackers are sharing methods on how to bypass 3D Secure bank transactions
For a comprehensive list of Frequently-Asked Questions about how to protect yourself from online fraud, click here.
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