With cyber fraud on the rise in Zimbabwe, customer security remains essential
Zimbabwe
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18 Oct 2022
As online financial transactions are becoming increasingly popular, many Zimbabweans are adopting the use of mobile wallets and online banking services across the country. While the ease that digital payments offer is unparalleled, making transactions and receiving payments online also comes with the risk of cybercrime.
With the growing trend of cyber risk threats across the country, cyber resilience is needed, and securing end-to-endpoints in the financial services ecosystem cannot be over-emphasized.
We take cyber security very seriously and understand many of the tricks and techniques behind some of the most popular scams.
In Zimbabwe, the upsurge in the use of mobile money, online banking and shopping during the COVID-19 lockdown came with a greater need for cybersecurity. The country experienced an increase in cybercrime and computer-related crime from money-related fraud, card cloning and identity fraud cyber incidents.
Additionally, according to the National Risk Assessment (NRA) Report of 2020, cyber risks, mainly through digital financial channels, contributed to an estimated US$900-million of illicit proceeds generated from criminal activity annually in Zimbabwe.
To counter cyber-attacks and provide better data protection, the government of Zimbabwe passed the Cyber Security and Data Protection Bill in 2021 which aims to punish the people who misuse and abuse the internet, social media, and communication network. In addition to that, it aims to support the financial digital system of Zimbabwe for better protection and efficiency.
We refuse to work with correspondent partners who lack effective controls for combatting fraud and financial crime and have implemented additional risk-based controls for customers who need to send to destinations where there is an elevated money laundering or terrorism financing risk.
The international remittance space is exposed to several key risks, including money laundering, fraud, terrorism financing, and sexual exploitation, so working with other leading bodies to combat this is essential.
Technology helps us understand and detect the known patterns of suspicious behaviour signalling the misuse of a customer account when sending money is the priority.