As technology improves, including artificial intelligence (AI), it is becoming easier for criminal syndicates to hoodwink people. Enter Yima, a tool to try and help stem the tide.

At a fraud summit recently held by the Southern African Fraud Prevention Service (SAFPS), experts from anti-fraud units across the world sent a clear message: scams and incidences of fraud are increasing exponentially.

According to the SAFPS they have had a 600% increase in incidents reported by their members in 2022 when compared to 2018.

Moreover, as technology improves, including artificial intelligence (AI), it is becoming easier for criminal syndicates to hoodwink people.

Fred Razak, Chief Trading Strategist at CMTrading wrote in a press release that “the massively increased digitisation of the world means that perhaps misinformation is the greater cyber threat than a direct cyberattack, particularly to individuals who engage in online trading.

“The scary thing about ChatGPT and all the AI-infused software is that they are capable of presenting us a completely believable alternate reality. If we ever reach the point where we can’t tell the difference between reality and what’s made up, then we are going to face some really serious situations that should be a cause of concern.

“Finance will always attract people who want to earn money honestly and others who want to make it in nefarious ways. There will always be someone on the sidelines who is a victim.”

While banks and digital platforms need to take more preventative action to protect their customers, we as consumers need to be doing more to protect our information.

This includes updating passwords and using biometric identification where available. We also need to be more aware of the scams out there and truly understand that when it is too good to be true, it really is a scam.

We also need to report any scams we come across in order to help squash them as quickly as possible.

Use Yima to help identify a scam

At the summit, the SAPFS announced the launch of a fraud-fighting website called Yima to assist South Africans in protecting themselves against scams.

Yima is a one-stop-shop for South Africans to report scams, secure their identity, and scan any website for vulnerabilities related to scams.

“These tools will enable consumers to surf the net more confidently and go about their daily lives aware and informed,” says Nazia Karrim, Head of Product Development at the SAFPS.

The main element of the website is to report a scam incident or any suspicious activity to the SAFPS. This suspicious activity includes a fake or suspect-looking online shopping website/portal and instances where the user has received phoney banking information. These reports will be collated and shared with law enforcement for investigation.

There are specific tools to assist consumers:

Check for suspicious websites: Yima has a function that allows you to insert the URL of a website to check whether it is suspicious. It checks for any reported malicious content, malware, blacklistings, security levels or adult content. It also provides consumer-experience feedback regarding the business or domain owner.

This would be useful if you are shopping online and want to confirm that the online retailer is legitimate. Within the next three months a Yima browser plugin will be available that will scan all websites you open in your browser.

“Am I Being Targeted?” self-help tool: This will help consumers in determining if they are being positioned as a possible target for a scam. The site will help the user to assess their situation and then select the option most relevant and the details of the scammers’ modus operandi. It also advises on how to respond to the possible threat.

Scams Alerts: Subscribed users will receive alerts about the latest scams or trends that have been identified, to keep them abreast and warn them about the risk.

Report a scam online: If you have spotted a scam, or been a victim, you can post the details on the website.The data gathered will be collated for analysis to help identify trends, hotspots, and gaps in awareness, and to design prevention campaigns and solutions. It will be used for identification of syndicated activity to assist law enforcement in their efforts to apprehend the perpetrators.

In the next few months Yima will be creating a single, short number for consumers to dial when they need to report a scam.

This article first appeared in City Press.