December 6, 2023
The Jamaica Observer highlighted that bank fraud in Jamaica has decreased, particularly up to November 2022, according to data from the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ). The decline is attributed to measures adopted by financial institutions, including the implementation of EMV chip and pin technology, multi-step account logins, and enhanced push notification features. BOJ noted, in the past year alone, bank fraud decreased by 11% compared to November 2021, prompting the BOJ to seek further reduction through discussions with the financial sector. BOJ’s plans, which are still in the developing stage, include establishing a cybersecurity framework and providing guidelines to strengthen institutions’ cybersecurity. The BOJ emphasizes the importance of a robust financial environment, especially during heightened consumer spending, with credit and debit card transactions accounting for 81.4% or $0.8 billion of fraud losses. Financial institutions are actively engaging in educating consumers about fraud prevention, especially during the Yuletide season.
Also, internet purchases, the segment with the third-highest fraud exposure among reporting institutions, typically trend upwards over the months of November and December. As a result, over the years the banks have worked to develop their own structure to educate consumers on safeguarding their money from fraudsters over the festive season. Notably, National Commercial Bank (NCB) have been pushing their “Fighting Fraud Fridays” campaign to keep consumers current on the types of fraud that exist, as well as the tactics used by fraudsters to lure consumers. Additionally, Scotiabank began urging consumers to become the “first line of defense” in combating growing incidents of card fraud and cybercrime in Jamaica, amid data from the BOJ that Internet banking fraud has jumped by approximately 33% since 2018.
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