South Africa has recorded the highest rate of suspected digital fraud among African countries surveyed in 2025, with 3.0 per cent of consumer transactions flagged as potentially fraudulent, according to a new report by TransUnion.
The findings were contained in the TransUnion H1 2026 Update: Top Fraud Trends report, which revealed that although the country’s fraud rate declined from 4.3 per cent in 2024, cybercriminals are increasingly deploying sophisticated artificial intelligence-powered tactics to target consumers and businesses.
According to the report, the decline in suspected fraud does not necessarily indicate reduced criminal activity. Rather, it reflects a shift towards more precise and coordinated attacks that leverage generative AI and trusted digital platforms.
The report showed that the median financial loss suffered by South African consumers who experienced digital fraud in the last 12 months stood at R11,055, the second highest in Africa after Kenya. However, this remains significantly lower than the global median loss of R27,879.
One of the most notable findings was that 33 per cent of South African consumers who lost money to digital fraud were victims of third-party seller scams operating on legitimate e-commerce platforms. This suggests that fraudsters are increasingly exploiting trusted online environments rather than relying solely on traditional phishing schemes.
Fraud expert Amritha Reddy of TransUnion Africa noted that criminals are embedding themselves within established digital ecosystems and exploiting consumer trust to execute more convincing scams.
The report further identified account takeover attacks as a major threat in South Africa. About 3.0 per cent of account login attempts were flagged as suspicious in 2025, compared to 2.4 per cent during account creation and 0.7 per cent during financial transactions.
This trend indicates that cybercriminals are focusing more on gaining access to existing accounts through stolen credentials, SIM swap fraud and social engineering techniques rather than creating fake accounts.
Sector-specific analysis revealed that government-related services recorded the highest suspected fraud rate at 12.5 per cent, followed by gaming at 11.5 per cent and insurance at 7.8 per cent.
The report warned that the increasing digitisation of public services has created new opportunities for fraudsters to impersonate government agencies and exploit citizens through fake communications and fraudulent platforms.
Consumer awareness of cybersecurity risks is also increasing. According to the survey, 85 per cent of South African consumers consider data security the most important factor when deciding which organisations to trust online.
TransUnion concluded that South Africa has entered a more advanced phase of digital fraud, characterised by AI-enabled attacks, multi-channel scams and the exploitation of trusted digital relationships. The company urged businesses and consumers to strengthen identity verification measures, adopt adaptive authentication technologies and invest in continuous fraud monitoring systems.
