Weeks after reports surfaced that several Republic Bank (Guyana) Ltd. Visa OneCard holders were scammed of their savings, the banking institution has shared that these were due to a trial and error method.
The bank has admitted that its system has been subjected to what has been described by VISA as “a brute force attack”. This, the bank explained, is a “trial and error method used by fraudsters to obtain within seconds, payment card information such as an account number, card expiration date, among other details.”
It was further explained that once that information is obtained, the fraudsters attempt numerous transactions at online merchants globally. “While many of these attempts failed, some were also authorised resulting in those customers’ accounts being debited. Customers, who it is believed lost money fraudulently, are being reimbursed.”
This has been particularly disturbing to the bank since it said that it had long recognised that over time its customers have grown to depend on and trust the convenience of its international VISA OneCard in meeting their online and other banking needs.
Moreover, the bank said that in recognising that multiple customers’ accounts were subjected to unusual fraudulent activities, the bank implemented measures to reduce the opportunity for its continuance. This saw the institution collaborating with VISA to put additional authorising measures in place. These temporary measures have, however, resulted in some legitimate online transactions being blocked.
As such, the bank said that customers who experience difficulty in attempting online transactions using their VISA OneCard are being asked to contact its customer support using telephone numbers: 1-800-271-4725 or 1-868-625-1200.
