Johannesburg - According to the Kepios Digital 2022: South Africa report, 41.19 million of South Africa’s population are active internet users and as such, at risk of at some point of encountering online financial fraud.
And while banks and fintech platforms spend billions of rands each year to prevent fraud, it is still important for businesses and consumers to be aware of the range of tools used by scammers in order to protect themselves. With International Fraud Protection Week commemorated next week, experts gave advise on how to protect your personal data against fraud.
Due diligence is important
According to Tony Mallam, Managing Director at upnup, investing in cryptocurrency was relatively new to the everyday person, and scammers often try to take advantage of people’s lack of knowledge to make them buy into a crypto scam.
“Scammers usually trick people who don't know what they're doing by giving them a false sense of legitimacy,” Mallam explained.
“They do this by making fake websites, crypto trading platforms that look like real ones, or investment schemes that claim to have endorsements from celebrities or people with a lot of power in the finance industry.”
Other common crypto scams include rug pull scams, where investors cannot withdraw funds after buying in, romance scams through relationships that are built online, phishing scams that aim to trick people into providing their personal or legitimate cryptocurrency wallet information, or giveaway scams.
“As with any other investment, potential investors should perform their due diligence and conduct research into the site, platform and company, they’re looking to invest in and make sure that they have legitimate backers and are sold by reputable firms before buying in,” Mallam said.
The upnup managing director added that it was less risky to invest in well-known cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and avoid lesser known coins, especially if they are experiencing a sudden upsurge. “Using trusted, and well established, investment platforms such as upnup, which aim to simplify the process of investing in Bitcoin, will help to reduce the risk of falling into the clutches of the rising number of crypto scams around the world.”
Education is vital
Head of Marketing and Communication at online booking platform and travel data repository Jurni, Tshepo Matlou believes that African business owners should not hold back on making their businesses digital because of the fear of the online world.
He explained that travel businesses were embracing technology in their marketing efforts but their underlying fear of tech, mostly among travel operators in localised areas and townships, was from a data safety perspective. This included the fear of fraud and having their data in the cloud, which they do not have control of.
“Our clients are small businesses and we’ve been demystifying this old notion by creating workshops nationally and educating small businesses owners regarding the safety aspect of using a tech-based platform,” Matlou said.
“We also provide the client with a signed agreement that speaks to maintaining the safety and integrity of their data when they are onboard.”
Lead from the front
According to Andrew Bourne, regional manager of Zoho Africa, businesses may unintentionally provide third-party services access to not only their own data but also that of their staff and even consumers. He added that employees may fill out forms or click links that share information with third parties, especially if they work remotely.
“There are ways to avoid sharing private information with cybercriminals,”’ Bourne said.
“It is essential that businesses constantly communicate their data collection and monitoring processes.”
Bourne said that businesses should also do privacy audits for third-party solutions, particularly given how much video conferencing and other forms of remote collaboration were used. In light of this, potentially invasive monitoring tools to measure output or background activity should be used judiciously. “Rather look at productivity and output as a form of qualitative monitoring.”
Bourne also suggested that businesses should lead from the front by making it company policy to block third-party trackers and only use software service providers with a similar approach. “This will go a long way to protecting your business and developing employee loyalty as they know that their personal information is also protected.”
Collect the right data, then keep it safe
“Navigating an increasingly complex technology and regulatory landscape where customer data is concerned is a key challenge for business in general and for marketers in particular,” Zuko Mdwaba, Area Vice President and Country Leader, Salesforce South Africa said.
He pointed to Salesforce's latest State of marketing report that shows that although 71% of South African marketers still invest in third-party data, 73% say they have a fully defined strategy to shift away from this approach.
“This is positive news but more can and must be done to protect customer data at all costs.
Even where regulatory frameworks are already in place to ensure customer data is handled with integrity and in a transparent manner, the collector of the data should always differentiate between collecting data that can be applied to enhance the customer experience, than merely collecting data for the sake of it.”