South Africans lose more than R6.5 million a day to online banking fraud

The South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) has released its 2025 annual crime statistics and online banking fraud is still on the rise. Here's what's driving it and what you can do to make sure you don't become part of the statistics.

For illustration purposes only. Image by Erwin Bosman from Pixabay

The digital banking crime numbers in SABRIC's latest annual crime statistics report make for sobering reading. South African banking clients now lose more than R6.5 million a day to fraud carried out through banking apps, internet banking and mobile banking.

Reported client claim amounts more than doubled in two years, from R1.09 billion in 2023 to R2.41 billion in 2025, including a 29.2% jump from R1.86 billion in 2024. Spread the R2.41 billion across 365 days and it works out to more than R6.5 million lost every single day. That's roughly R4 580 every minute.

We shouldn't forget that behind these numbers are real people. SABRIC recorded 110 074 digital banking crime cases in 2025 – that's more than 300 South Africans a day who lost money from their personal or company accounts. Among these might be an elderly person who lost their life savings, a student who saved up for months to buy an appliance for their first apartment, or a parent who doesn't know how they're going to pay their child's school fees or put food on the table because their account has been drained.

A closer look

• 2023: 52 588 incidents, R1.09 billion lost, averaging R20 649 per incident

• 2024: 97 547 incidents, R1.86 billion lost, averaging R19 095 per incident

• 2025: 110 074 incidents, R2.41 billion lost, averaging R21 865 per incident

The number of incidents has more than doubled since 2023, and the amount lost per incident is also climbing again after dipping in 2024. In other words, more people are being targeted, and it's costing them more.

Even more concerning is that these figures are based only on data submitted by nine* SABRIC member banks, which means they exclude cases that weren't reported and can't be interpreted as a complete measure of digital banking crime across every bank and financial institution in the country.

The three digital banking access channels

• Banking apps accounted for almost 89% of all cases and 70.5% of the money lost. In many cases, the scam started elsewhere – a phone call, email or text message convincing people to transfer money or approve a transaction, which then happens on the app.

• Internet banking from laptops or computers amounted to under 9% of the cases but a hefty 28.6% of the money lost. This is because internet banking is often used for bigger, once-off payments and business transactions.

• Mobile banking accounts for under 3% of cases and less than 1% of losses, but SABRIC flags it as important because of its close link to SIM swap fraud, where criminals hijack your cellphone number to intercept the authentication codes that are meant to protect you.

It's more about psychology than technology

According to SABRIC's report, most cases were driven by so-called social engineering, where scammers manipulate and persuade people into disclosing information, transferring money, approving access or authorising transactions, rather than attacks on banking systems.

Scammers' most common tricks:

Impersonation and vishing (voice phishing)

Criminals pretend to be your bank, law enforcement officials, a service provider or other trusted organisation. They tell you your account is at risk, that a suspicious transaction has been made, or that you need to move your money to a "safe account". They often stay on the line, guiding you step by step and creating a sense of urgency.

Remote access and screen-sharing scams

You're talked into installing remote-access software or sharing your screen, supposedly for "technical support", "fraud prevention assistance" or "account verification". Once that access is granted, criminals can see everything on your device, capture your login details, create new beneficiaries and move money out before you realise what's happened.

AI-generated scams 

Criminals are increasingly using AI to write convincing professional-looking phishing emails and messages, and, in isolated cases, even cloning voices to impersonate bank officials, company executives, or even people you know.

Marketplace and supplier-payment scams 

These range from online marketplace "purchases" that never arrive, to fraudsters changing a supplier's banking details in a business email.

Six warning signs to watch out for

SABRIC lists six warning signs that should make you stop and double-check before doing anything else:

• An unexpected call or message that creates urgency or fear and demands immediate action

• Someone asks for your PIN, password, card information or one-time password

• You're told to move money to a "safe account" or to approve a transaction you didn't start yourself

• Someone asks you to install remote-access or screen-sharing software, or to click on a link

• You receive a change of banking details or a payment instruction by email, WhatsApp or phone

• You get an unexpected SIM swap notification, stop receiving verification messages, or suddenly lose cellphone signal.

If any of these happen to you, end the interaction, contact your bank directly through an official number or app, and report it straight away. If you unexpectedly lose mobile signal, contact both your bank and mobile network without delay.

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Until next time, stay safe out there!

*ABSA, First National Bank, Nedbank, Standard Bank, Capitec Bank, Bidvest Bank, Discovery Bank, Investec and GoTyme Bank

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