Fraud dispute resolution is often manual and can take weeks. Research shows 73% of customers say their loyalty is heavily influenced by how fraud is handled. While customer satisfaction and retention may largely lie in the ambit of the CMO, a large part of the solution lies with today’s security leaders.
Despite increasing security efforts, South African digital banking fraud incidents grew by 86% in 2024 compared to 2023, accounting for roughly R1.9 billion in losses, with banking apps accounting for 65% of reported incidents.
Concomitantly, the National Financial Ombud Scheme’s banking division saw record complaint volumes in 2024 (over 15,000 complaints), with nearly 80% of the cases decided in the banks’ favour.
“While most of the major banks have digital fraud dispute reporting channels, the actual fraud dispute process remains cumbersome and largely analogue. It’s not…
Identity theft is the “foundational” fraud upon which many other crimes are built. It involves the unauthorized acquisition and use of a person’s personal identifying information (PII), such as an ID number, Social Security number, or passport details.
- How it works: Fraudsters obtain PII through data breaches, mail theft, or “social engineering” (tricking people into revealing details). Once they have this data, they can open new bank accounts, apply for credit cards or loans, and even receive medical treatment under your name.
- Synthetic Identity Fraud: A sophisticated variation where criminals combine real and fabricated information to create a completely new, “synthetic” person. This is particularly difficult to detect because there is no single victim to report the suspicious activity initially.