
Nedbank has warned its clients of ongoing fraud activities in South Africa, which has forced the bank to disable debit card swipe transactions at toll gates from Monday, 20 January 2025.
In an official communique to clients, the bank said: “Due to ongoing debit card fraud, debit card swipe transactions at toll gates will be disabled from 20 January 2025.”
Clients were furthermore advised to rely on their credit cards, garage cards, cash, or e-tags for payment.
They can also make use of contactless debit and credit cards, as well as smart devices linked to contactless payment apps, at plazas where tap-to-pay is enabled.
Toll gate card cloning
While Nedbank didn’t indicate exactly what type of fraud is plaguing its clients, previous reports suggest that it could be card cloning.
The South African Banking Risk Information Centre noted that toll gates are among the most common places where cards are cloned, also known as skimmed, alongside ATMs, supermarkets, liquor stores, and restaurants.
The terms cloning and skimming refer to when criminals steal a person’s bank card information to create a counterfeit copy that can be used to spend money from your account.
This is most commonly done when a card is inserted into a machine such as an ATM or a point-of-sale reader that has been discreetly modified with a skimming device.
Toll plazas, in particular, is an easy place for criminals to get away with this as motorists often hand over their cards to booth operators to pay their way, after which the cards disappear out of view for a few seconds until handed back.
It is believed that this is when the information is stolen as the owner can’t see what is happening with their card.
The main devices used in this crime include:
- Overlay skimmers — Placed on top of the actual card reader on ATMs or payment terminals
- Internal skimmers — Installed inside the card reader to make it more difficult to detect
- Wireless skimmers — Mobile skimmers fitted with wireless communication capability to relay information to criminals nearby, typically using Bluetooth
Scammers can also use keypad overlays, fake card readers, and hidden cameras to record when a person enters their PIN, which is necessary for when they attempt in-person transactions.
It is primarily for this reason that contactless payment solutions are being rolled out across toll plazas in the country.
This technology makes it far more difficult for thieves to steal sensitive information whilst simultaneously reducing the time spent at plazas, which further increases safety for road users.
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