AI-driven fraud is rising across Africa, with criminals exploiting human behaviour and trust rather than system vulnerabilities, says Thalia Pillay, CEO of Orca Fraud. In an interview with ITWeb Africa editor Samuel Mungadze, Pillay says criminals are deploying increasingly sophisticated AI-powered tactics to circumvent security controls. Artificial intelligence (AI)-driven fraud is on the rise across…
IN SHORT: A graphic circulating online in South Africa and Nigeria warns of criminals claiming to test blood sugar for free, only to infect people with HIV instead. But this hoax circulated in the Philippines in 2025, and the country’s health department debunked it. According to a shocking claim sent to Africa Check by subscribers…
South Africa’s banks recorded two branch robberies in 2025. Not two a month – two for the entire year, down from eight in 2024, together yielding just R630 000. In the same 12 months, customers of the country’s biggest banks lodged claims worth R2.4-billion after being defrauded through digital channels. A typical case starts with a…
South African sports clubs, federations and other institutions have high volumes of data and weak cyber defences, making them key targets for cyber criminals. (Image: 123RF). SA’s sports industry has become an attractive target for cyber criminals, who know it handles large volumes of data but relies on weak cyber defences. Cyber security and risk…
Yunus Scheepers, group divisional manager of cyber security operations at BUI. Deepfake attacks have increased by more than 2 000% globally over the past three years. In the last 12 months, 62% of organisations worldwide have experienced at least one deepfake attack, while estimates suggest deepfake-related losses in Latin America alone could reach nearly $40…
Anna Collard, SVP of content strategy and evangelist for KnowBe4 Africa. People are significantly more vulnerable to cyber crime when they are in weakened psychological states, such as hungry, angry, lonely or tired, as well as during shopping frenzies like Black Friday, when they are less likely to be vigilant. Making matters worse, becoming a…
Jason Lane-Sellers Travel fraud and related crime is on the rise worldwide as criminals take aim at the security vulnerabilities of rewards programmes offered by airlines, among other loopholes. According to Jason Lane-Sellers, director of fraud and identity for Europe, Middle East and Africa at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, criminals are hacking into multiple rewards programme…
LONDON — As British detectives studied the grainy CCTV video of the burning warehouse, there was at first little reason to think they were looking at a covert Russian intelligence operation. The March 2024 video from the Cromwell Industrial Estate in east London showed two masked men pouring gasoline outside the warehouse door, setting it…
Fraudsters sometimes create entirely fake taxpayer profiles using stolen ID numbers. As tax season kicks off with manual filing now open, cyber criminals are ramping up phishing scams and leaked credentials to get access to South African Revenue Service (SARS) taxpayer profiles and steal refunds. In most cases, scammers break into a taxpayer’s SARS account…
