Bank of Mozambique warns against data theft – AIM report

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Bank of Mozambique warns against data theft – AIM report

7:54 CAT | 30 Nov 2019

File photo: Lusa

The Bank of Mozambique on Friday warned that criminals are trying to steal banking information from citizens under cover of the current drive by commercial banks to update information on their clients.

Several of the commercial banks, including the two largest banks, the Millennim-BIM and the BCI (Commercial and Investment Bank), have demanded that clients, even those who have banked with them for decades, must provide copies of their identity cards, proof of their address, and a statement of their earnings.

The BCI has even threatened that if clients do not provide these documents, it will freeze their accounts.

Criminals are now seeking to take advantage of this. Claiming that they represent the Bank of Mozambique, they are demanding account numbers, banking identification numbers, and, crucially, the passwords that give access to client accounts. The demands are superficially plausible, in that clients are being bombarded by the BCI and other commercial banks with insistent requests for information.

The statement from the Central Bank declares that any claims that it is demanding such information are false, and, in the event of any doubts, citizens should contact the Bank’s complaints department.

The central bank encourages people to participate in the genuine updating of records by the commercial banks, since this is covered by the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and of the Financing of Terrorism.

Source: AIM