Discover why reporting scams is crucial in South Africa, especially for younger generations. Learn how sharing information can help combat the growing threat of fraud and protect individuals from falling victim to sophisticated scams.
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South Africa ranks among the countries most exposed to scam attempts globally, with one in five of us saying they experience at least one scam attempt every day, according to the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) Global State of Scams 2025 Report. Sanlam says the real defence against this growing threat may be surprisingly simple: reporting, rather than ignoring, the attempts.
As scams become more pervasive, reporting them plays a critical role in helping investigators track and disrupt criminal networks. Even when people haven’t lost money, the information they share helps build a clearer picture of how these scams operate.
It used to be that fraudsters and cybercriminals would focus on businesses, but criminal networks are now targeting individuals more and more. The scale of the problem and the numbers involved point to this now being a societal problem.
Scams have also become more sophisticated. Traditionally, scammers targeted older, more vulnerable groups who lacked familiarity with changing technologies. In line with that, most Gen X (70%), Baby Boomers (65%), and the Silent Generation (67%) report not feeling very confident in recognising a scam.
But being a young, educated digital native is no guarantee of safety. In fact, the risk is even more alarming: the GASA report found that, globally, the people most susceptible to being scammed and losing money are younger (27% Gen Z, 26% Millennials) and highly educated (26%).
The reason why people are falling for scams is, sadly, all too human. It just feels so real and so convincing. It’s not like it was in the old days, where, in many cases, you should have known the offer was too good to be true. Today, the levels of deception are high, and scams are sophisticated.
The GASA report finds that for 21% of respondents, the believability of the scam is the main reason why victims globally think they were scammed. Only 8% of respondents said that they were not certain if the offer was legitimate but chose to risk it anyway.
The best way for South Africans to combat the pervasive threat of financial scams is to be vigilant and to report incidents. Even if you haven’t been scammed, it makes a massive difference if people report attempted scams. From Sanlam’s perspective, every report goes towards creating a data set, which we can then act on. Any information is valuable to us, whether it’s the IP address of the fraudulent site or the cellphone number of the scammer who called you. The more data we can gather, the more we can collectively work with other stakeholders to build a picture of the networks behind these scams.
Insurance companies earn the highest ratings for their responsiveness in pre- and post-scam support. Insurers lead in awareness and education (53%), scam blocking and payment prevention (49%), ease of reporting (51%), investigation (49%), and compensation (48%), according to the GASA report’s survey respondents. Survey participants rank the police third, behind banks but ahead of the government (which ranks last, in ninth place).
It can be difficult for the police to take action, because in South Africa, we don’t have a legal definition of what a scam is. When it comes to fraudulent investments, especially, it’s hard to tell the legal difference between being a scam and a bad financial decision.
In addition to reporting scams to the SAPS, you can also report it to the bank you used to make payment, or report it to YIMA, a non-profit organisation that wants to enable and empower consumers to protect themselves against the threat and impacts of scams. If you suspect a website is used to facilitate scams, you can report it to The Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) which operates a take-down notice process on behalf of its members.
As for prevention, beware of the familiar red flags that signal a scam. Be alert for urgency. The GASA report found that 64% of scams occur within a single day of the target's first contact, and 47% occur within minutes.
Scammers count on you to panic. The best response is to stay calm and verify the caller or sender. Even if the contact seems legitimate, exercise your right to end the conversation and confirm the person’s identity. Always stay more vigilant than you think you should be.
*Du Toit is the head of forensics at Sanlam Life and Savings.
PERSONAL FINANCE