South Africans are increasingly being targeted by AI-generated fraudsters who sound just like bank employees. However, many local banks are still struggling with legacy tech, slow change processes, limited data visibility, and a risk that is growing faster than their response.
According to the 2026 Anti-Fraud Technology Benchmarking Report from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, which includes input from Sub-Saharan Africa, the AI‑driven fraud schemes most cited as having increased significantly over the past two years were deepfake social engineering (44%) and consumer fraud and scams (38%).
What’s more, over the next two years, significant growth is expected in genAI document fraud and forgery (55%), deepfake social engineering (55%), and deepfake digital injection (54%).
Despite this growing threat, the same report shows that only 7% of organisations are more than moderately prepared to detect and prevent AI-powered fraud.
“It’s not theoretical anymore. South African consumers are already speaking to well‑scripted AI agents posing as bank staff and being coached in real time over the phone to approve transactions and share credentials,” says Nishan Maharaj, fraud analyst at Entersekt. “In most cases, the fraudsters already hold key personal details like ID numbers, which instantly lowers a victim’s guard.”