Many reported that their accounts had been blocked despite not having reported any fraud or issues, leaving them unable to access their money.
The issues have led to customers being held up on Standard Bank’s fraud line for well over an hour.
The sheer volume of reports have also stirred rumours that the bank suffered some sort of mass data breach or system failure had exposed customers’ card details.
However, Standard Bank has insisted that there had been no breach of its systems, instead blaming the issues on a spike in month-end transactions, which had supposedly caused delayed responses from its call centre.
While outage tracker Downdetector showed nothing out of the ordinary, Twitter/X was inundated with dozens of complaints about fraudulent transaction and blocked accounts.
“Hi Standard Bank. What is going on with your fraud department this morning?” one user posted. “All my accounts are blocked, I cannot contact you as the queue for fraud is over 522 people long.”
“I experienced fraudulent activities on my account, youh, your fraud line doesn’t work. Almost 23 minutes of holding the line,” another said.
A third user said they had been on hold with the fraud line for an hour and a half.
One customer claims they had R25,000 taken off their account across two transactions.
Another customer that responded to his post said that they had R9,000 taken from their cheque account on Sunday, 30 June 2024.
“How did the transactions go through when I have a clear limit on both online and card payments? They need to give us answers and our money back,” they said.
Many customers have had their accounts blocked despite not having contacted Standard Bank regarding any fraud-related issues.
“I’ve checked and you seem not to be getting my issue. I’ve never reported any fraud, you flagged my card and put a note that I must call you,” one user said at 11:09.
“I got to the branch at 08:30. We have been on the line from that time till now,” they added.
Standard Bank apologised for the delayed responses in attending to customer queries.
The bank said it had multiple security and authentication layers that it had made available to its customers.
“Customers can also utilise the app or Internet banking to report fraud or manage their cards or card payments,” it stated.
The bank also provided the following general tips for customers to avoid falling victim to fraud:
- Password Best Practices:
– Use strong passwords for all your online accounts.
– Consider using a password manager to securely store and manage your passwords. - Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and Biometrics:
– Enable MFA wherever possible to add an extra layer of security.
– Biometric authentication (such as fingerprint or facial recognition) enhances account protection. - Combat Social Engineering:
– Be cautious of unsolicited calls, emails, or messages asking for personal information.
– Verify the legitimacy of requests before sharing sensitive data. - Contactless Payment Methods:
– Use contactless cards or mobile wallets for secure transactions. - Precautions with public Wi-Fi:
– Avoid conducting sensitive transactions over public Wi-Fi networks.
