Standard chartered bank has suspended the Automated teller machine use because of the VISA scam cards. Initial investigations into the VISA cards scam in Zambia indicate that Information Technology (IT) experts in the banks have been selling codes and passwords to a cartel of crooks.
A check by QFM this morning at stanchart long acres found a ATM machine not working. It is alleged that The IT officials have been selling customer data and other ATM information to a cartel of well-known Lusaka crooks.
When information on VISA cards have been purchased, the businessmen print duplicate ATM cards and then fly to South Africa and Dubai where the massive withdrawals are made.
There is total chaos in the banks as police officers have moved in and the banks are frantically trying to root out the culprits.One bank official a few weeks ago is said to have reported to police that some conmen went to ask for a CD Stanbic affected too
The invasion of Zambian banks’ VISA cards system by supposedly by Dubai based crooks has spread to Stanbic. Standard Chartered Bank and Barclays Bank are the worst hit.
Standard Chartered Thursday evening confirmed that they had shut down their VISA service in Zambia citing security breaches on its internet services.
Director of corporate Affairs Luke Ndlovu made the confirmation. There is panic in the banks as customers are reporting unknown withdrawals from their accounts and thereby losing incomes, salaries and benefits.
According to sources, these withdrawals are made using swipes and that most swipe withdrawals are traced to Dubai, in the United Emirate Republic.
QFM
One of the reasons is because most people in the above mentioned banks are incompetent ,IT is a joke in these banks,they actually depend on Kenya to run the IT,they can’t even implement any security in their own systems…they’re mere help desk support people with very limited knowledge. At least Zanaco stuff is knowledgeable and I’m sure they can do better than they are doing.
This is a result of depending on foreigners for everything,shame on them,just open accounts with local banks mwe!!!
I love Zanaco
#1 I agree it serves them right. They thought they could run serious IT with cheap labour from Evelyn Hone and when we offered advise they thought were were jealousy and just wanted more money. Well there is a price of cutting corners. Compare that now to the paying top dollar to right and qualified people.
This is such a simple problem to solve. Rule number 1, Introduce CHIP and PIN cards
Rule number 2 always store customers PIN numbers or passwords in encrypted form using MD5 or SHA1 so that even if somebody steals them they will be uselesss
For people out there, make sure your bank or any other organisation that keeps your PIN or Password keeps rule Rule number 2. How can you find out that? Simple , just pretend you lostforgot your PIN or password and if they e-mail you or…
Crooks are scam, they prefer an evil way to make a living at the expense of hard working and decent people who have to sweat for their money. The banks must cooperate with the police to round up these misfits. The report says there are some so called IT specialists employed by banks conniving with WELL KNOWN Lusaka crooks. This should make it easy for the authorities to apprehend the culprits.
ctd from #3 ..How do you find out if they keep rule number 2. Simple, pretend you lost or forgot your password or PIN and if they e-mail it to you or tell it to you and it turns out to the the same password you had, then run away. It means some insider knows you password and they will use it somewhere. We are all human. To pass the Rule number 2 test, the Bank should ask you to reset the password or PIN.
Basically the PIN or password should be secret and should only be known by you and you alone. Also guard your e-mail account password. Most systems e-mail lost passwords or recovery instructions to e-mail accounts e-mails. So keep that secure. it is another weak link in the chain.
Happy blogging and enjoy safe banking
It is called 419! It’s an advance-fee fraud is a confidence trick in which the target is persuaded to advance sums of money in the hope of realizing a significantly larger gain. Among the variations on this type of scam, are the Nigerian Letter (also called the 419 fraud, Nigerian scam, Nigerian bank scam, or Nigerian money offer the Spanish Prisoner, the black money scam as well as Russian/Ukrainian scam (also widespread. 419 borders on greed. For example a well-know lawyer in Zambia committed suicide after chewing somebody’s money! Even a former bank of Zambia died believing he was going to buy ‘black Dollars’! This StanChart is an inside scum!
what do you expect..?u pay them peanuts and think they would be so confidential..?
The money being stolen from zambians is the same money nigerians are using to make zambian women open their legs.haha Why in the hell would IT professionals sell zambian peoples details? This is exactly the stuff I avoid doing business with zambian based banks , I love zed but the people there are crooks when it comes to money and business.
Iam scared sirs and madams .Thank #3 Carly. GOD BLESS YOU.
These crooks are scam, they prefer evil ways to make a living at the expense of hard working and decent people. The banks and police must work together to round up these misfits. The report says there are some so-called IT experts employed by the banks who connive with WELL KNOWN Lusaka criminals, if so it should be easy to cage these louts.
All of the above comments are ludicrous except for Cayla who seems to have a little understanding about IT. What is happening in Zambia is called card skimming, where the details of your ATM card are stolen when you use your card at an ATM or POS device. The skimming device gets details of your card and further technology such as a camera at the ATM machine or a false Pin pad to get your PIN info.This can be transmitted wirelessly to someone up to 100 meters away. Nothing to do with the persons inside the bank. As Cayla put it, chip and pin cards greatly reduce this form of crime. This is what forced most western countries to do away with magnetic stripe cards and go chip and pin years ago. Criminals then realised that African banks did not go this way (for whatever reasons) and have…
do u know that all these guys pass unencrypted traffic through public infrastructure,which is now foreign owned?people can use simple tools such as wireshark and capture God knows how much information….it’s true we need more qualified people to run IT in these banks,and pay them accordingly…. there is just so much that is wrong and I wouldn’t want to bore people with the details…
Peolple are partly to blame for all this. Out of ignorance they leave personal data everywhere especially internet. How can sombody leave personal details such as date of birth, mobile numbers etc on face book?? Even the data protection act of zambia wont help matters becoz they know that zambians are useless and typically S.T.U.P.I.D things.
guys please come down. its the first time this is happening in zambia but its not the first time in many countries were technology is more advanced. my hubby experienced that while we lived in the UK. and in most airports they ask you how you would support your stay and the proof will be verified. if you have credit cards visa card ,they will be investigated because of this kind of background. india and the Uk have a network that investigated fake credit cards which are obtained through ID theft.
Kumbowa n cayla i gree so much with you
1. Someone copying and selling bank details should tell you that these bank people are smart and IT competent but criminal minded!
2. Qfm reporter, did you just checked one ATM machine and concluded that they have shut down the ATM system for thefts committed outside the country? Thats pretty smart! ATM’s, just like many machines, develop faults and some just go off if the run out of cash which is a normal trend with ATM in LSK especially on Friday, Saturday and Sundays. Guess how I knew this? Just by having a VISA card, its that simple!
3. All inter bank data communication is encrypted
4. Wireshark is used to study network traffic, It cant open encrypted packets.
5. Though some banks use public infrastructure, their networks are VPNs.
1. Someone copying and selling bank details should tell you that these bank people are smart and IT competent but criminal minded!
2. Qfm reporter, did you just check one ATM machine and concluded that they have shut down the ATM system for thefts committed outside the country? Thats pretty smart! ATM’s, just like many machines, develop faults and some just go off if they run out of cash which is a normal trend with ATM in LSK especially on Friday, Saturday and Sundays. Guess how I knew this? Just by having a VISA card, its that simple!
3. All inter bank data communication is encrypted
4. Wireshark is used to study network traffic, It cant open encrypted packets.
5. Though some banks use public infrastructure, their networks are VPNs.
Owe ..hope my kwachas are not gone. I left a good sum of Kwachas in Barclays. Backlays you will repay me since its not my fault but yours for you have employed unqualified people to run the IT system.
Hehe….you shall see Backlays there I come for my money.
How safe is paypal?
What has/is happening to Zambia happens to any country regardless of the development.The UK has had its own share of this type of crime.Maybe or hopefully the pinsentry is safe.But you never know who hacks into your computer especially if you like online banking and shopping like me.
Solution is tithe.God will rebuke the devourer on your behalf.
Ba QFm,am just from withdrawing moneys from Stanchart ATM Kabulonga..How many ATMs did you check for you to come up with cheap news?
The coming of Nigerian banks in the Zambian economy is yet to open Zambians in life. Lets ask ourselves questions, why do we have many women involved in drug trafficking? Nigerians are in Zambia. They give women money and also are not directly involved but use women. Lets wait and see what comes next. In Europe, they are not wanted. Wait until the waste come to pass. Be careful and look after your monies and families. Its 419 the fraud article in the Nigerian constitution.
This is sweet!:d
#17
Not all VPNs are encrypted ,currently most banks are using MPLS VPN without any encryption (IPSEC-AES,3DES,etc.), I manage these networks,unfortunately,these people don’t understand the danger of traffic passing through lap green…the way the MPLS setup is makes it very easy to use tools like wireshark to capture everything,banks connect to the MPLS cloud via an Ethernet switch and the ports can easily be mirrored using SPAN/RSPAN and capture every single packet that passes through,and with great filters,you can get all the necessary information..
I won’t mention the banks,but I have told u the facts I have shared with them,at least one of the banks have agreed that we do DMVPNs…..sorry I had to mention some details ,but I’m sure guys in IT understand what I’m talking about.
#23,
Thanks for your points, I also worked with one bank in particular, that is what i was basing my argument on. As for Zamtel/Lapgreen, I guess their job is to provide secure links, but customers detail security and data encryptions should be by banks themselves, so that if there are problems like now, they can change freely. Dont worry about the technical terms, i understand most of them.
But am sorry about wireshark am still not convinced, you can capture all your information, but you don’t know the encryption of the sending device, so how do you open? Only if not encrypted.
Zambia is too open. In the name of investment, Zambia has become like a whore whose legs are always apart.
You are right Samigo,only when it’s not encrypted,I have managed to capture people’s mails by mirroring their network ports on the switch to mine…….better when u have 2 networks points,it’s the same concept used for call recording in most VoIP setups…It’s the banks responsibility to encrypt their own traffic and their personnel should have better understanding of their systems,rather than depending on Kenya/India for their IT.
haizt it is very chaos in doing our atm transaction nw usually withdrawal,like here in the philippines,many thieves around you.be sure to make transaction carefully anytime
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