South Africans are losing billions of rand to increasingly sophisticated digital scams, with new findings showing that fraudsters stole around R2 billion in 2025 while victims lost more than R11,000 on average per incident.
The latest fraud trends data released by TransUnion paints a concerning picture of how cybercriminals are changing tactics. Rather than relying on suspicious websites, scammers are increasingly operating through platforms and services that consumers already trust.
South Africa Records High Fraud Levels
The findings show that South Africa recorded the highest rate of suspected digital fraud among the African countries included in the study.
According to TransUnion, 3.0% of transactions involving South African consumers were flagged as suspected digital fraud during 2025.
The report noted that many victims are being targeted through legitimate online marketplaces and trusted digital channels.
TransUnion said:
“South African consumers are increasingly facing coordinated, identity-driven and cross-channel attacks similar to those seen in mature digital economies.”
The organisation added that around one-third of South Africans who reported losing money to digital fraud said they were caught through third-party seller scams operating on legitimate e-commerce platforms.
TransUnion explained:
“This indicates that losses are not occurring because consumers transacted in a suspect or unsafe environment.”
The report continued:
“It shows fraudsters have successfully embedded themselves into environments that appeared credible, familiar and trusted.”
The study found that the median loss reported by South Africans who fell victim to digital fraud over the past year was R11,055.
Fraudsters Target Existing Accounts
The data suggests that criminals are increasingly focusing on taking over existing customer accounts rather than creating fake profiles.
According to TransUnion, South Africa is among the few markets where the highest rate of suspected digital fraud occurs during account logins.
The report stated:
“This is compared to 2.4% at account creation and 0.7% of financial transactions.”
TransUnion Africa senior director of fraud product management, Amritha Reddy, warned that emerging technology is making scams increasingly difficult to identify.
Reddy said:
“As criminals increasingly weaponise new technologies to carry out scams, it’s more important than ever for consumers to safeguard their personal information and to review their credit reports regularly.”
Banks Losing Billions To Scam Epidemic
Venture Labs chief executive officer Dirk de Vos told Newzroom Afrika that fraud cost South African banks roughly R2 billion during 2025.
De Vos warned that even highly cautious consumers can become victims.
He said:
“You think that you’re immune to falling victim because you’re careful. But these stories happen to the most wary and the most skilled of us.”
De Vos highlighted one case in which a victim allegedly lost R187,000 after receiving what appeared to be a legitimate SMS from their bank.
He explained that criminals can use bulk messaging services to imitate trusted senders.
According to De Vos:
“They’re almost subscription services, where bulk SMS capability allows you to do just that.”
He added that many fraudulent messages appear in the same conversation thread as legitimate banking notifications, making them more convincing.
De Vos said:
“We are stuck with this. It is a weakness in the system. It’s got nothing to do with the banks in that case. It’s got to do with the cellphone networks.”