South Africans lost R2.4 billion to digital banking crime in 2025, with criminals using social engineering, banking scams, artificial intelligence and banking apps to target customers
South Africans lost R2.4 billion to digital banking crime in 2025 as criminals increasingly turned to technology and social engineering to target bank customers.
This is according to a new report by the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC), which recorded 110,074 digital banking crime incidents in 2025.
Banking app-related crime accounted for about 89% of reported cases and 70.5% of the total client claim amount.
SABRIC said criminals used tactics including impersonation, phishing, remote-access software and false payment instructions to trick customers into sharing sensitive information or approving transactions.
