On February 14, 2022, the National Bank launches the All-Ukrainian information campaign on payment security #GoodbyeFraudster. It will be a continuation of the first similar campaign, which was successfully conducted in 2020. Its aim is to raise public awareness of cyber hygiene and promote a culture of safe behavior in cyberspace, as well as to remind about the basic rules of security of non-cash payments.
The topic of cybersecurity and payment fraud remains relevant around the world, and Ukraine is no exception. In particular, the National Bank notes an increase in fraudulent activity last year.
“If we talk about the level of losses from illegal actions with payment cards in the total volume of all such transactions, it remained relatively low. Last year, illegal actions or dubious transactions accounted for 65 hryvnias per one million hryvnias of expenditure transactions using payment cards. This is not much, but more than in 2020 (then it was 48 hryvnias), - said Deputy Governor of the National Bank Oleksii Shaban. – That is why we believe that we need to remind citizens about the rules of secure online payments and behavior in cyberspace. After all, the main weapon against fraudsters today is awareness”.
The most popular method of payment card fraud in Ukraine, as in the world, is social engineering, through which people themselves transfer money to fraudsters or disclose to them the data of their cards.
Andrii Podderohin, Director of the Payment Systems and Innovative Development Department of the National Bank, said that the National Bank sees a continuation of the positive trend of replacing the form factor of payment cards with a purely magnetic stripe with more secure chip cards. This was reflected, in particular, in the volume of fraud through such channels, which use a physical card - a retail chain and ATMs. Thus, the amount of losses from fraud in the retail network decreased from 61 hryvnias (in 2020) to 40 hryvnias (in 2021), in ATMs - from 33 hryvnias (in 2020) to 29 hryvnias (in 2021) per one million hryvnias of expenditure transactions with the use of payment cards.
Also last year, the average amount of fraudulent transactions in the retail network decreased by almost 45% - from 1,984 hryvnias (in 2020) to 1,086 hryvnias (in 2021). On average, one illegal operation in 2021 accounted for about 1,600 hryvnias, which is 16% less than in 2020 (1,900 hryvnias).
“At the same time, we observe that the amount of losses increased from 61 hryvnias (in 2020) to 114 hryvnias (in 2021) per one million hryvnias of expenditure transactions with payment cards made on the Internet, - said Andrii Podderohin. – If we compare Ukraine and Europe, the indicator of relative losses from the total volume of payment card transactions remains much lower. In Ukraine it is 0.0065% (i.e. 65 hryvnias of losses per one million hryvnias), and in the EU countries, according to the European Central Bank, this figure is several times higher and reached 0.036% in 2019 (i.e. 360 euros of losses per million euro). In fact, fraud over the Internet is a global trend. And in most cases, people fall victim to fraud due to non-compliance with basic rules of payment security”.
In 2021, Ukrainians more often chose non-cash payments and online purchases, which was due to both the continuation of quarantine restrictions and changes in the habits of payment card users. This encouraged fraudsters who did not stop trying to deceive citizens, including in cyberspace.
“Ensuring a high level of cybersecurity in the financial sector is one of the main goals of the National Bank. We have a comprehensive approach to solving this problem, regulating key aspects of cybersecurity, increasing the potential of the Cyber Defense Center of the National Bank, increasing the competence of employees of cybersecurity units of Ukrainian banks, - said Deputy Head of the Cybersecurity Center of the NBU Roman Proskurovskyi. – At the same time, the issue of raising cyber awareness and safe behavior of citizens, clients of financial institutions in cyberspace is also very important for us. In particular, reliable password protection for accounts. Especially tied to the financial phone number, because it is the main means of interaction between financial institutions and their customers. In fact, it is a customer ID that allows a citizen to access the management of their funds. Therefore, it is important to follow the appropriate rules for the safe use of financial phone number”.
Thus, an important direction of the campaign will be to explain the simple rules that should be followed when interacting with cyberspace, in particular in financial matters: it is advisable to have a separate telephone number to interact with the financial institution, register it and "tie" it to your passport data, closely monitor where the information about the financial number is located, monitor your mobile phone and do not leave it unattended.
“In 2021, the cyber police managed to register criminal activities and bring to justice more than 2,000 criminal proceedings related to Internet fraud; 422 criminals were involved in their commission. Also, more than 6,600 proceedings are still pending. By the way, fraudulent actions on the Internet account for almost 70% of all appeals to the cyber police. The most common fraudulent schemes in 2021: sale of non-existent goods, pseudo-winnings, telephone fraud, phishing resources to misappropriate money or collect personal data, stealing money under the pretext of superprofit and asking friends for help on social networks. In total, last year, according to cases recorded by the National Police, cybercriminals deceived citizens for more than 193 million hryvnias”, – said the head of the department for combating crimes in the field of computer systems of the Department of Cyberpolice Yevhen Dorohanov.
“For our part, we, ConcordBank, are always ready to support the National Bank's initiatives to increase the level of cybersecurity in the banking sector. Every year, fraudsters improve their social engineering skills and invent new ways to deceive people. Our bank has already actively participated in the information campaign #GoodbyeFraudster in its social networks last year and is ready to continue this cooperation in 2022. After all, we are talking primarily about the safety of our customers. So, we think it's necessary to talk about the methods used by fraudsters to obtain money and just remind the basic rules of payment security to protect customers from unpleasant situations”, – Chairman of the Board of ConcordBank Yuri Zadoiia.
The information campaign will last for the next three months in all regions of Ukraine. As part of the campaign, the National Bank and its partners will inform citizens on how to protect themselves from payment fraud, in particular through the updated thematic web page (landing) #GoodbyeFraudster with detailed information about the campaign and rules of conduct in cyberspace.
For information only
The National Bank conducts the All-Ukrainian information campaign on payment security #GoodbyeFraudster together with the Cyberpolice Department of the National Police of Ukraine, as well as with the support of:
- International Finance Corporation (IFC) in partnership with the Swiss Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and the Foundation for Good Governance in the United Kingdom;
- Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine.
General partners: EMA, Mastercard, OLX.ua, Lifecell, VAFK, PROSTIR, YASNO - supplier of electricity, gas and energy efficiency solutions, BlaBlaCar, Nova Poshta.
Information partners: PrivatBank, Oschadbank, Ukreximbank, Raiffeisen Bank, Ukrgasbank, Alfa-Bank, FUIB, Ukrsibbank, OTP Bank, Universal Bank, International Reserve Bank, Credit Agricole Bank, Kredobank, ProCredit Bank, Tascombank, Credit Dnipro Bank, Vostok Bank, A-Bank, Accordbank, MTB Bank, Alliance Bank, Megabank, Idea Bank, Pravex Bank, Globus Bank, Commercial Industrial Bank, Sich Bank, Lviv Bank, International Investment Bank, Industrialbank, Radabank, RwS Bank, Crystalbank, Clearing House Bank, Investment and Savings Bank, ConcordBank, Poltava Bank, First Investment Bank, UkrBudInvestBank, Forward Bank, Motor-Bank, Grant Bank, Agroprosperis Bank, Unex Bank, Ukrainian Capital Bank, Asvio Bank, European Industrial Bank, Polycombank, Ukrainian Bank for Reconstruction and Development, BTA Bank, Trust-Capital Bank, Portal Bank, Visa, Kyivstar, GO "VSAD "IT-Babusi", Foxtrot, Shell, Osvitoria, Ukrposhta, Aroma Kava, Pension Fund of Ukraine, State Employment Service, Cherkasy Regional State Administration, Sumy Regional State Administration, Vinnytsia Regional State Administration, Zhytomyr Regional State Administration, Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, Odesa Regional State Administration, Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration, Ivano-Frankivsk Regional State Administration, Kherson Regional State Administration, Luhansk Regional State Administration, Donetsk Regional State Administration, Kirovohrad Regional State Administration, Poltava Regional State Administration, Volyn Regional State Administration, Ternopil Regional State Administration, Lviv Regional State Administration.
