Every year a lot of holiday makers and business travellers manage a lot of financial operations online when abroad, putting themselves at risk when they are not adequately protected. According to research from Kaspersky Lab, 48% of South African travellers believe losing money is one of the top-three threats they may face abroad, and credit card compromise is considered to be a top-three threat by 39 percent of local users.
The research conducted highlighted that there is a real danger when it comes to losing money when travelling, 26% of local respondents have experienced such loss, and eight people globally have had a card compromised while in a foreign country. It’s not surprising that travellers are becoming victims of cybercrime. 77% of South African travellers connect to public Wi-Fi anywhere when abroad and, using this potentially risky connection which can be intercepted and used by cyber-criminals, 72% of consumers bank online and 63% shop online.
In today’s technological era, we can travel easily and stay connected while we do. It is all too easy to connect via potentially insecure Wi-Fi abroad then continue our regular habits of banking and shopping online, without stopping to think about the consequences of what we are doing.
As we approach the holiday season, Likemoney urges you to be more cyber savvy, think twice before you make online payments abroad and put measures in place to protect your money from harm. To prevent the loss of your money, you should behave safely when you are abroad. Never loose sight of your credit cards, only connect to the Internet via a secure VPN connection, and use a robust security feature to protect yourself.
Also make sure to get travel insurance when travelling abroad.
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Don’t Be A Victim Of Cyber Crimes
South African banks jack up cyber security
