Beating kidnappers who want to empty your bank account

In many of these incidents, criminals kidnap and threaten people to get them to withdraw the maximum amount of money they can from their bank accounts or to transfer funds via their mobile banking apps.

Creating decoy apps, using a phone without banking apps in public, or keeping as much of your money as possible in an account with a notice period are some of the methods to protect against kidnappers forcing you to empty your bank account.

Insurers and private security companies have warned about the rise in so-called “express” kidnappings in the past year.

The latter also often allows users to increase their daily withdrawal and transaction limits, potentially increasing how much money the kidnappers can steal.

According to Fidelity ADT CEO Wahl Bartmann, South Africans should be vigilant about their personal safety at all times and take the following steps to avoid falling victim to kidnappers.

• Don’t be flashy with expensive jewellery and other items in public

• Vary your routines or periodically change travel routes

• Don’t engage with strangers

• Be aware of your surroundings at all times, especially when leaving and arriving at home

• Secure your home, particularly the perimeter, with electric fencing, proper lighting and CCTV

• If threatened, attract attention

If you are kidnapped, private security companies and South Africa’s major banks advise cooperation with the kidnappers and their demands to provide the best chance of escaping with your life.

Many kidnappers are hardened criminals who would not hesitate to harm or kill their victims.

The issue has led to a bit of a conundrum for banks, who cannot compensate victims for any money paid out of or withdrawn from their bank accounts while under duress.

Former Banking Services Ombud Reana Steyn previously told consumer journalist Wendy Knowler that banks cannot be blamed for the crime or losses as the kidnapping and robbery took place outside their premises.

Some banks also keep kidnapped victims’ accounts open even if family members or friends make them aware that the account has been compromised, arguing that blocking the accounts or transactions would only endanger the victim’s life.

Another problem is that malicious customers could exploit banks’ willingness to pay back victims’ money by staging kidnappings.

They could pretend that they lost money when it was actually withdrawn by the victim themselves, used to pay for products or services they wanted, or channelled back to them through a collaborator.

Leaving your mobile banking phone at home

While hiding certain bank accounts within your banking app is an option to limit exposure, seasoned kidnappers could become increasingly familiar with the various settings of banking apps and simply force users to unhide the accounts.

Some users have suggested keeping your phone with your mobile banking app at home and using a secondary device without access to your bank account while going out in public.

That would leave you with two payment options: your bank card or a digital wallet-equipped smartwatch.

If you use a card, the criminals might still be able to force you to make transactions or buy certain items they want.

They could also get you to withdraw money or perform various more complex actions on your bank account at an ATM, such as increasing your daily limits or making an electronic funds transfer.

While a smartwatch could also be used for making payments, it does not support withdrawals or EFTs at ATMs or provide access to increasing daily limits.

Apple Pay, Garmin Pay, Fitbit Pay, Google Wallet, Samsung Pay, and SwatchPay are able to make up to a specified number of transactions while disconnected from the Internet.

Put extra money into accounts with limited access

There is another option for those who prefer to keep their phone with banking account access on hand.

Bank Zero has recommended that customers only keep the funds they need for their day-to-day requirements in their transactional bank accounts and open a Notice Deposit account for the rest of the money.

A Notice Deposit requires a customer to request funds a certain number of days before they can get them.

These accounts can have varying notice periods — typically starting from seven days and going up to 60 days.

The additional benefit of this option is that you will earn interest on funds kept in the Notice Deposit account.

If you urgently require access to more money, these accounts allow for an “early breakage” for a fee, but you will still only be able to get the funds the next day.

Notify loved ones without alerting kidnappers

Another way to reduce how much money kidnappers can take from your account is to limit how long they can keep you around before encountering trouble from law enforcement.

The South African Banking Risk Information Centre has also advised users to keep their location services on their smartphone enabled and to share their real-time location with trusted contacts when travelling alone.

That could also make it easier and faster for the police or private security to track you and the kidnappers down.

Another tool that can assist with alerting loved ones about your situation without endangering your life is Thinkst Canary’s decoy apps.

Canary has developed fake apps using its Canarytokens that mimic the look of legitimate apps’ icons but silently send an alert to a supplied email address when the fake app is opened.

There would be no way for the criminals to tell which of the apps is the decoy.

It currently offers 40 fake apps, including Absa, Capitec, FNB, Nedbank, Old Mutual, and Standard Bank, as well as digital payment apps Apple Wallet, Google Wallet, SnapScan, and Zapper.

MyBroadband tested the system with a decoy app for FNB and upon opening it, we received an email in our chosen inbox alerting that someone tried to access the app.

Users can hide their actual mobile banking apps in a hidden folder while putting the fake app up on their home page.

SOURCE:Beating kidnappers who want to empty your bank account – MyBroadband