Traditionally, South Africa has been a popular country among fraudsters looking for every opportunity to try and find their next victim. Statistics from the Southern African Fraud Prevention Service (SAFPS) point out that there was a 600% increase in incidents reported by their members in 2022 when compared to 2018.
“The Southern African Fraud Prevention Service (SAFPS), in its role as the South African custodian of fraud prevention, has decided to take decisive action to tackle the problem that scams are posing to our economy. Over the years, the SAFPS has rolled out several important communication campaigns that aimed to educate South Africans about the various frauds and scams they can become victims of. However, the challenge is that reporting a scam – while important – is a reactive response once a person has already become a victim,” says Nazia Karrim, Head of Product Development at the SAFPS, “we need to establish a proactive approach to combatting fraud and scams.”