In May 2024, Francis Mogambi arrived in the United States after winning the Diversity Visa lottery, a programme that gives people from around the world a chance to become permanent residents. Just over two years later, the Kenyan national found himself at the centre of a US investigation into an alleged nationwide scheme to defraud…
Yazi CEO Tim Treagus. (Image: Supplied) Digital fraud continues to cause financial harm for consumers, with 85% of South Africans impacted in the past 12 months. This is one of the findings of new research titled: “Global Digital Fraud Study: Who Pays for Trust”, compiled by artificial intelligence (AI)-native research platform Yazi. The study, which…
A criminal investigation into Argentine President Javier Milei and his sister’s links to a cryptocurrency scandal has been dropped. The case against Milei and his sister Karina Milei was dismissed by federal judge Marcelo Martinez de Giorgi at the request of prosecutors, court records show. The Argentinian president had denied promoting the newly launched cryptocoin…
The social grants system has faced allegations of fraud over the years. MTBPS 2026: Government has witnessed R13.1 billion in savings by reducing social grant fraud through administration and verification measures. As a result, it will implement similar approaches for the National Student Financial Aid Scheme bursaries and housing subsidies, according to National Treasury. Treasury…
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…
One in five hits on an advert isn’t a genuine human interaction. (Graphic: Nicola Mawson | Magnific) South African advertisers could be being defrauded of between R2.8 billion and R12 billion a year through programmatic online advertising, according to TruthsetsOnline.com’s analysis of local campaigns. Marc Dhalluin, co-founder of TruthsetsOnline.com, estimates South Africa’s digital advertising market…
Mariia Halaida, head of business development at Softswiss. While AI cannot completely prevent fraud in SA’s burgeoning iGaming industry, the technology can help stakeholders monitor and detect threats in real-time, making a significant difference, says Mariia Halaida, head of business development at iGaming software solutions firm Softswiss. Softswiss has described SA as Africa’s most advanced…
Threat intelligence firm Flashpoint has published the midyear edition of its 2026 Global Threat Intelligence Report, which says criminals have stopped experimenting with AI and started operating on it. In the six months to 30 June 2026, Flashpoint counted more than 22 million threat actor posts discussing, sharing or advertising AI toolkits built for criminal…
South Africans’ fear of crime and low economic growth act as a shield against AI-related crime. (Graphic: Nicola Mawson | Unsplash and Magnific) South Africans’ street smarts as a result of the high levels of crime, as well as a low per capita gross domestic product (GDP), are proving to provide a level of protection…
In March 2026, Standard Bank publicly warned about AI-generated voices, cloned emails and deepfake content being used to mimic legitimate bank communications and staff. This type of activity has continued through to mid-2026 with the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric) also warning that criminals are using AI tools to impersonate bank officials, create…
