{"id":878801,"date":"2026-10-13T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=878801"},"modified":"2026-10-13T16:49:04","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T14:49:04","slug":"fnb-warns-criminals-are-targeting-bank-accounts-of-one-group-of-people-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/banking\/878801\/fnb-warns-criminals-are-targeting-bank-accounts-of-one-group-of-people-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"FNB warns criminals are targeting bank accounts of one group of people in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Older South Africans are increasingly being targeted by digital fraudsters because criminals can exploit both their accumulated wealth and their trust in perceived authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was the feedback from Christopher Boxall, head of Card Transact at FNB, during an interview with Hot Business<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boxall warned that fraudsters have become far more sophisticated, moving beyond fake websites and crude impersonations to using information gathered about potential victims to create convincing scams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said this is particularly evident among older customers, who are increasingly using banking apps and other digital services while potentially having significant savings and assets accumulated over their lifetimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor fraudsters, this is kind of the perfect gap for them to try and convince these individuals to let go of their funds and authenticate payments,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boxall said the problem appears to be particularly pronounced among people aged over 55, and especially those over 60.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He stressed that the term \u201celderly\u201d can be difficult to define, but said banking data shows a clear focus by fraudsters on these age groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe’re seeing a larger number of those fraud cases being logged on a month-to-month basis,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Boxall, this is not an issue limited to FNB, but is being seen across the banking industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said one reason older customers can become easier targets is that they may be less familiar with how banks authenticate customers, while also being more inclined to trust people who appear to be authority figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fraudsters are also using information obtained through data breaches and other sources to make their approaches appear genuine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boxall said criminals can build profiles of customers and then use details about them to establish credibility before asking for sensitive information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey use this information to coerce the customer into believing that they are legitimate and to start providing little tidbits of information that allow the fraudster to gain access to card numbers, expiry dates, CVV or even usernames and passwords.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Banks need to fight the problem on two fronts<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Christopher Boxall, head of Card Transact at FNB<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The criminals also pose as a bank’s fraud department and tell victims that an urgent problem has been detected on their account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The victim is then pressured into acting quickly to supposedly protect their money, when they are actually handing information to the fraudster. Boxall added that Artificial intelligence (AI) has made these scams harder to identify.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fraudsters can now automate large volumes of convincing communications, while fake caller profiles, photographs and other details can make criminals appear to be legitimate bank employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe’re seeing that we identify fake Truecaller accounts, fake profile pictures, numbers that can be set up in an instant, all looking like they’re legitimately from one of the larger banks in SA,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that fraudsters can include reference numbers and banking-related registration details in their messages to make them appear more authentic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boxall said banks, therefore, need to fight the problem on two fronts: through technology and education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Banks can adjust fraud models to account for the spending behaviour of different age groups, while also providing targeted warnings to customers who may be particularly vulnerable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt has to be technical as well as educational. You’ve got to do targeted communications to these types of customers where you identify a vulnerability or fragility,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he warned that simply adding more barriers to payments is not enough, as sophisticated fraudsters can manipulate victims into overcoming those safeguards themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boxall advised older customers to stop when they feel pressured, question unexpected payment approvals, and verify communications independently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His advice to families is to establish a safe word with older relatives, block cards or reduce spending limits when they are not being used, and involve a trusted family member if something appears suspicious.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Older South Africans are increasingly being targeted for accumulated wealth and their trust in perceived authority.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":793361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2110023015001956461","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2235951517225247","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18117031250282353","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[961],"tags":[76,1334,853],"class_list":["post-878801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-banking","tag-fnb","tag-fraud","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=878801"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878801\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":878814,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878801\/revisions\/878814"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/793361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=878801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=878801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=878801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}