Tap-and-go scams on the rise, warns National Financial Ombud Scheme

CAPE TOWN - Jan-u-worry is something all South Africans can relate to and understand.
  
So, when tap-and-go scams are on the rise, people want to keep their money as safe as possible.  

The National Financial Ombud (NFO) Scheme of South Africa deals with scammers, lost bank cards and unauthorised money being withdrawn.

The scheme’s Nerosha Maseti said that usually when people filed complaints with their respective banks, they also reported their concerns to the ombud’s scheme.

"In the ombudsman space, we have seen a few of these types of complaints, where banking customers report unauthorised tap-and-go transactions on their accounts after their cards were lost or stolen."

The NFO is also advising putting a limit on how much money can be withdrawn from a bank account, to protect consumers from so-called tap-and-go scams. 
 
Maseti said that while generally the tap-and-go function on banking cards was safe and that a PIN is required to exceed a certain limit, having additional protection was important to keep your money safe.  

"Facial recognition does provide a high level of security by using unique biometric data that is very difficult to replicate. So, it is indeed an extra layer of security to help prevent unauthorized access to your device," Maseti said.