According to a new survey, Kenya’s financial services sector players top the global list of institutions that have become a prime target of tech-savvy fraudsters preying on unsuspecting customers to swindle them of life savings stored in bank accounts, reports the East African.
“It is mainly where someone steals your identity card for use to either open an account or access your account and take a loan against it. We see a lot of that happening, the common one being of taking Mshwari or Tala loans using stolen ID card information,” Billy Owino, the firm’s Chief Executive told The EastAfrican last week.
“We started seeing identity theft in 2019 when people approached customer service saying they have been denied a loan somewhere because the bank says they have a default on a loan they knew nothing about. We began to realise there is a lot of identity theft happening and being perpetuated especially in the mobile lending space where somebody steals the identity just to open an account in one of the financial technology (fintech)’s platforms," Owino adds.
This development, the publication notes, is likely to cause jitters to depositors whose confidence has been heavily shaken by among other things, increasing number of lenders violating statutory guidelines on liquidity and capital adequacy.
What is Identity Theft?
The first step in protecting yourself from identity theft is learning how it occurs. From there, you can start taking steps to limit your exposure. There's no way to prevent identity theft entirely, but you can make it harder for criminals to gain access to your information and accounts.
How to Recognize Signs of Identity Theft
Identity theft can affect you in many ways, and there are various ways to identify it. Here are some of the things that Kenya's leading digital lender, OKash, advises you to look out for:
a). You no longer get your household bills in the mail.
An absence of bills in the mail could mean your personal data has been compromised, and the identity thief has changed your billing address to try to keep you from seeing your statements.
b). You've been turned down for a loan.
If you're rejected for credit but have a solid credit history, you might have been targeted by an identity thief. If you're approved for a loan or credit but at higher interest rates than you expect, that's also a sign you may have been victimized by identity theft.
c). You're being billed for items you didn't purchase.
If you receive an invoice for a purchase you don't recognize, or you're being billed for overdue payments for credit accounts you don't own, that's a sign your identity's been compromised.
d). Your financial accounts show charges you don't recognize.
If your bank or other financial accounts show unauthorized transactions, those accounts may have been breached.
e). Your tax return was rejected.
If you filed your tax returns and received a rejection notice due to a duplicate return, that could indicate a return has already been fraudulently filed in your name.
f). Your creditors alert you to suspicious activity.
You may get a call or text from a company you do business with that tells you fraudulent activity has been detected. For instance, your bank or other creditors may alert you that a suspicious transaction has been attempted with your card.
Ways to Protect Yourself From Identity Theft
To better protect your personal data against identity thieves, OKash further advises, that it's important to be proactive about your approach.
1. Password-Protect Your Devices.
Not having a password on your smartphone or tablet is akin to leaving your home with the door wide open. If the device falls into the wrong hands, your email, financial accounts and other private data stored on the phone will be easily accessible.
2. Use a Password Manager.
Using the same password for all of your electronic devices and key financial accounts is a major security risk. If you do, a fraudster only has to figure out a single password to gain access to the rest of your accounts.
A good way to stop an identity thief from accessing your data is to mix up your passwords, and use a unique one for every account.
3. Watch Out for Phishing Attempts.
Avoid clicking on any suspicious-looking links in emails or text messages. In phishing, identity thieves use emails and websites that look like they're coming from your bank or other financial institutions to trick you into entering your account information or other private data.
These emails may even ask you to open an attachment that installs harmful malware on your device.
4. Never Give Out Personal Information Over the Phone.
Fraudsters may also regularly pose as a bank or telecommunications company employee where they may ask you to provide them with an array of personal information over the phone. Doing so is a dead giveaway.
The fact is, no legitimate organization will call and ask you for personal information like a bank or ATM card PIN number.
5. Regularly Check Your Credit Reports.
Credit reports include the activity on the financial accounts in your name, including their last-reported balances.
As a result, a good way to spot discrepancies is to check your credit report regularly. If you can spot something suspicious early, such as an unfamiliar account on your report, you can take action to address it more quickly and stop the situation from getting worse.