SABRIC Highlights Decrease in Banking Crime Losses but Warns of Rising Risks from AI-Driven Fraud
Johannesburg – The South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) has released its Annual Crime Statistics for 2024, showing a significant decline in financial crime losses while also highlighting the increasing threat of artificial intelligence (AI) in fraudulent activities.
In 2023, South Africa experienced financial crime losses totaling R3.3 billion.
This figure dropped to R2.7 billion in 2024, reflecting an almost 18 percent reduction.
SABRIC attributes this improvement to enhanced prevention and detection measures implemented by the banking sector.
Despite this progress, criminals have adapted, increasingly leveraging AI tools for their fraudulent schemes.
As noted by SABRIC CEO Andre Wentzel, “Criminals are using AI to create scams that appear more credible and convincing.”
“From flawless phishing emails to AI-generated WhatsApp messages and even voice-cloned deepfakes, these techniques highlight the urgent need for proactive and collaborative efforts to protect consumers.”
The 2024 data shows that digital banking fraud remains the leading channel, representing 65.3 percent of reported incidents.
Cases nearly doubled, soaring from 31,612 in 2023 to 64,000 in 2024, with losses increasing from R1 billion to over R1.4 billion.
Importantly, these incidents were largely due to social engineering tactics that took advantage of human errors, rather than technical weaknesses in banking systems.
AI-driven crime has become a growing concern, with criminals employing machine-generated content to deceive victims.
Reports have included AI-generated phishing emails and WhatsApp communications, along with initial instances of voice-based deepfake scams impersonating individuals and banking officials.
SABRIC has warned that by 2025, real-time deepfake audio and video could become standard tools in fraudulent schemes.
Other crime categories also showed notable trends. ATM assaults decreased by 18 percent, resulting in a 44 percent reduction in cash losses.
Related robberies declined by 35 percent, with client losses down 64 percent, achievements attributed to a collaborative industry task force that has lessened ATM bombings.
Card-related fraud continued to be strongly influenced by Card Not Present (CNP) transactions, which constituted 85.6 percent of overall fraud losses for South African WWW.SABRIC.CO.ZA issued credit cards.
Lost and stolen cards accounted for 8.2 percent of the cases, while fraudulent applications represented 2.9 percent.
Counterfeit card fraud remains a significant concern, with 64.4 percent of counterfeit credit card fraud and 63.1 percent of counterfeit debit card fraud happening within the country.
Toll plazas and service stations have been identified as hotspots for these incidents.
SABRIC reaffirmed its commitment to working with its members to enhance consumer education and awareness programs, foster greater industry collaboration, and invest in technology to safeguard the banking system.
“Protecting the financial sector requires continuous vigilance and cooperation among banks, regulators, law enforcement, and civil society,” Wentzel stressed.
“Together, we can stay ahead of an increasingly sophisticated criminal landscape.”