Banking scams and crime on the rise due to blackouts, say security experts

Ongoing blackouts are sending street crimes and house robberies through the roof, while opening the door to new banking scams.

Load-shedding is expected to continue indefinitely and according to security experts, has caused an increase in such incidents. This was discussed by a panel in Pretoria on Tuesday, which assessed security risks due to power outages.

The indefinite blackouts have resulted in a new scam involving the bogus sale of solar panels, said SA Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric) CEO Nischal Mewalall.

“Individuals have taken advantage of the situation and we have noted an increase in reports ... of payment and money going through and the client not receiving the goods and services,” he said.

The July 2021 unrest demonstrated an increase in violent crimes commissioned by untraceable individuals, said Maj Lunga Dweba of the Geopolitical Intelligence Advisory, voicing concern about the “growing appetite for lawlessness”.

“An example is the 2021 July unrest, where those who planned the activities are really not known. Due to load-shedding, there are acts that are planned and executed without a trace,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) said contact crimes such as robberies and housebreakings were rising. Its head of justice and violence prevention, Gareth Newham, said the blackouts came as policing stagnated for a fifth year, with the solving of crimes decreasing.

“We are talking about day-to-day crimes like street robberies — those crimes have not decreased. What has increased is the reporting rate because police don’t take these crimes seriously ... You add load-shedding to that and security systems become non-effective ... The typical time that [a robbery] happens seems to be spiking as a result of load-shedding," Newham said.

Regarding banking, Mewalall said securing measures remained in place despite load-shedding.

“All the aspects which allow you to transact have led the customer to experience some degrees of disruption (such as a lag in communication with banks or banking app accessibility),” he said.

“What is important for customers to note is that there is no reduction in security measures. On the back end, it is business as usual.”

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