A man believed to be behind the recent spate of Internet banking fraud has been arrested, Standard Bank announced yesterday.
The 28-year-old man has been linked to at least 120 counts of online fraud, hitting most of SA's major banks. Several international banking customers were also affected.
"Clients from the various other banks had also been affected by the scam, which gleaned their details at Internet caf'es across the country," says Herman Singh, Standard Bank's director of technology engineering.
The man is alleged to have used spyware on vulnerable computers at Internet caf'es to log sensitive login details, including card numbers, customer-selected PINs and passwords.
Electronic fund transfers
The details were transmitted via a remote Internet access device to a server in Estonia. The alleged fraudster then retrieved the details to log onto Internet banking sites and make numerous electronic fund transfers and prepaid airtime purchases, Singh says.
"Most of the affected Internet caf'es are in Johannesburg's northern suburbs and Pretoria, with isolated cases being reported in Cape Town. The first incidents were reported in May 2006.
"The modus operandi was established after intensive investigation by Standard Bank IT experts."
Singh says the fraudulent transactions were all conducted using Vodacom's data services.
"The mobile number used was identified in close collaboration with Vodacom. A security consultancy contracted from the US then traced the suspect to a house in Cape Town."
When Scorpions officials swooped on the suspect, they found a laptop computer, three mobile phones and about 20 SIM cards at his premises, as well as R20 000 in cash.
The suspect has been released on R20 000 bail and is under house arrest.
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