South African businesses are facing a new generation of identity fraud driven by artificial intelligence, deepfakes, synthetic identities, and stolen personal data, according to the 2026 Identity Fraud Report released by VerifyNow.
The report combines public fraud statistics, industry research, and VerifyNow’s analysis of the growing verification challenges facing organisations across the country. It highlights a significant shift in criminal tactics, with fraudsters increasingly relying on impersonation rather than traditional cyberattacks.
Fraud Moves Beyond Hacking
According to the report, criminals no longer need to breach systems to commit fraud. Instead, they are using stolen personal information, AI-generated documents, deepfake videos, voice cloning, and social engineering techniques to pose as legitimate customers during onboarding, login, payment, and compliance processes.
This evolution is creating new risks for businesses that continue to rely on manual reviews or document-based verification methods.
