The second ordeal — what happens when SA fraud victims fight back?

Mar 24, 2026 · 2777 words · By Rebecca Davis

📰 Original article: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-03-24-the-second-ordeal-what-happen…

Fact-Check Results

“The South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric) recorded 97,975 reported incidents of digital banking fraud in 2024, resulting in gross losses of close to R1.9-billion.”

❓ INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE — No evidence found in archive to verify Sabric's 2024 fraud statistics.

“Sabric’s crime statistics report is the only real window we have into the scale of digital banking fraud in South Africa.”

❓ INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE — No evidence found in archive to confirm Sabric's exclusivity as a fraud data source.

“None of the major banks provided figures to Daily Maverick on annual fraud incidents or financial losses.”

❓ INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE — No evidence found in archive to verify major banks' disclosure status to Daily Maverick.

“Investec stated that sharing fraud data would pose security risks and disclose proprietary information.”

❓ INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE — No evidence found in archive to verify Investec's data disclosure claims.

“Sabric attributes all 2024 digital fraud cases to social engineering, not technical breaches.”

❓ INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE — No evidence found in archive to verify Sabric's attribution of fraud causes.

“Standard Bank confirmed Sabric’s finding that 100% of 2024 digital fraud cases involved customer credential compromise.”

❓ INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE — No evidence found in archive to verify Standard Bank's confirmation of fraud methods.

“Robert’s wife’s Absa account had R250,000 in dormant funds since April 2021.”

❓ INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE — No evidence found in archive to verify Robert's wife's Absa account details.

“Unauthorized debit orders totaling R9,000 were processed from Robert’s wife’s account in 2023.”

❓ INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE — No evidence found in archive to verify unauthorized debit orders from 2023.

“Absa required Robert to provide a lawyer’s letterhead and a doctor’s note to resolve the fraud dispute.”

❓ INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE — No evidence found in archive to verify Absa's document requirements.

“Netcash processed the fraudulent debit orders under the reference 'Yenza Kwen' followed by a nine-digit number.”

❓ INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE — No evidence found in archive to verify Netcash's processing references.

“The Payment Association of South Africa estimated 10% of monthly disputed debit orders were unauthorized.”

❓ PENDING

“DebiCheck, an authenticated debit order system, was introduced to improve debit order security.”

❓ PENDING

“Albert van Zyl noted the trade-off between transaction convenience and security in banking systems.”

❓ PENDING

“Lisanne Pienaar-De Gouveia stated that fraudulent debit orders require a valid mandate from the customer.”

❓ PENDING

“Consumers reported losses exceeding R2-million from unauthorized transactions in some cases.”

❓ PENDING

“A 2019 joint probe by the SA Revenue Service, Hawks, and SAPS found fraudulent debit orders totaling at least R1.6-billion annually.”

❓ PENDING