Standard bank has confirmed it has been affected by a credit card fraud scam involving South African banks in Japan.

The gross loss to the bank is an estimated R300 million. This is prior to any potential recoveries that may serve to reduce the loss.

“The South African banking operations of Standard Bank Group have been the victim of a sophisticated, co-ordinated fraud incident,” the bank said in a statement.

The bank says the scam involved the withdrawal of cash using a small number of fictitious cards at various ATMs in Japan.

However, the bank says the target of the fraud has been Standard Bank and there has been no financial loss for customers.

Investigations are at a sensitive stage and further information will be provided as appropriate.

The money was stolen through a series of coordinated ATM and convenience store withdrawals.

Japanese media is reporting that more than 1,000 ATMs were used in a space of about two hours to complete the fraudulent withdrawals earlier this month.

It’s believed that about 100 people may have been involved in as many as 14,000 transactions.

Sources have told Japanese media that 1,600 credit cards issued by one South African bank were used to commit the fraud.

South African authorities are yet to comment.

Source : EWN

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