South Africa is one of 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 Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) Global State of Scams 2025 Report. sanlam says the real defense against this growing threat may be surprisingly simple: reporting rather than ignoring attempts.
As scams become more widespread, their reporting plays a vital 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 focused on businesses, but criminal networks are now increasingly targeting individuals. The scale of the problem and the numbers involved point to the fact that this is now a social problem.
Scams have also become more sophisticated. Traditionally, scammers targeted older, more vulnerable groups who lacked familiarity with changing technologies. Similarly, the majority of Gen
But being a young, educated digital native is no guarantee of security. In fact, the risk is even more worrying: the GASA report found that, globally, the people most vulnerable to fraud and losing money are the young (27% Gen Z, 26% Millennials) and the highly educated (26%).
Sadly, the reason people fall into scams is entirely human. It feels absolutely real and convincing. This isn't like it was in the old days, where, in many cases, you had to know that the offer was too good to be true. Today, the level of deception is high, and the scams are sophisticated.
The GASA report found that for 21% of respondents, the credibility of a scam is the main reason why victims globally think they have been scammed. Only 8% of respondents said they were not sure whether the offer was legitimate or not, but they still chose to risk it.
The best way for South Africans to deal with the widespread threat of financial scams is to remain vigilant and report incidents. Even if you don't get scammed, it makes a big difference if people report an attempted scam. From Sanlam's perspective, each report goes towards creating a data set on which we can act. Any information is valuable to us, whether it is the IP address of a fraudulent site or the cellphone number of the scammer calling you. The more data we can collect, the more we can work collectively with other stakeholders to build a picture of the networks behind these scams.
Insurance companies earn the highest ratings for their response in support before and after the scandal. According to survey respondents to the GASA report, insurers are ahead in awareness and education (53%), scam prevention and payment prevention (49%), ease of reporting (51%), investigation (49%), and compensation (48%). Survey participants ranked the police third, behind banks but ahead of the government (which ranked last, ninth).
It can be difficult for the police to take action because, in South Africa, we have no legal definition of what a scam is. When it comes to fraudulent investments specifically, it can be difficult to tell the legal difference between being scammed and making a poor financial decision.
In addition to reporting scams to SAPS, you can also report it to the bank you used to make the payment, or report it to YIMA, a non-profit organization that seeks to enable and empower consumers to protect themselves from the threat and effects of scams. If you suspect that a website is being used to facilitate scams, you can report it to the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA), which operates a take-down notice process on your behalf. Member.
As far as prevention goes, be wary of familiar red flags that indicate a scam. Be mindful of urgency. The GASA report found that 64% of scams occur within the same day of first contact with the target, and 47% within a few minutes.
Scammers count on you to panic. The best response is to remain calm and confirm the caller or sender. Even if the contact seems legitimate, exercise your right to end the conversation and confirm the person's identity. Always be more cautious than you think.
*Du Toit is head of forensics at Sanlam Life & Savings.
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