With the Easter holidays upon us, bank card fraud syndicates are on the rise, targeting unsuspecting consumers.

Criminals are using cyber-crime to download the victims’ personal and private information to access their bank apps.

The head of Fraud Risk Management at Standard Bank, Athaly Khan says the criminals’ modus operandi is to plant ads on advertised deals in customers’ cellphones.

Khan says another way of swindling customers, is the tampering with ATMs and cloning of cards.

“One of the modus that were really identified over the couple of years, is how they target online shopping and online fraud. Especially where customers went to look for a special or a deal. They type in the special or deals that they are looking for. Based on the access on the Google sites and so on, they use those ads which kind of pop up into the system. And once you click on those ads, you need to be very, very careful. Because fraudsters plan those ads especially for customers who are looking for deals, something special or specific.”