Traditionally, South Africa has been a popular country among fraudsters looking for every opportunity to try and find their next victim. Statistics from the Southern African Fraud Prevention Service (SAFPS) point out that there was a 600% increase in incidents reported by their members in 2022 when compared to 2018.
“The Southern African Fraud Prevention Service (SAFPS), in its role as the South African custodian of fraud prevention, has decided to take decisive action to tackle the problem that scams are posing to our economy,” says says Nazia Karrim, head of product development at the SAFPS. “Over the years, the SAFPS has rolled out several important communication campaigns that aimed to educate South Africans about the various frauds and scams they can become victims of.
“However, the challenge is that reporting a scam – while important – is a reactive response once a person has already become a victim, we need to establish a proactive approach to combatting fraud and scams.”
The SAFPS continuously engages with various industry associations to reduce the country’s fraud landscape, says Karrim. “In response to the growing need for a proactive approach to fraud prevention, the SAFPS is developing a product called Yima. Once launched, the product’s website will be a one-stop-shop for South Africans to report scams, secure their identity, and scan any website for vulnerabilities related to scams.
“They will also be able to educate themselves on identifying a scam. These tools will enable consumers to surf the net more confidently and go about their daily lives aware and informed. These are just some exciting elements South Africans can access through the site.”
The main element of the website will be the ability to report a scam incident or any suspicious activity to the SAFPS. This suspicious activity includes a fake or suspect-looking online shopping website/portal and instances where the user has received phony banking information.
These reports will be collated and shared with law enforcement for investigation. Users will also be provided a scams hotline to report a fraud incident directly to their banks, retailers or insurance companies via a single number. Users will only need to remember one number rather than search for each institution’s contact numbers online.
Additionally, Yima users will have access to the consumer products and services offered by the SAFPS.
“The most unique element of Yima is the ability to provide the consumer with the tools to be proactive when preventing scams and the services to assist them when they fall victim to a scam. This will make a significant difference in the war on scams. Empowering the consumer is key to prevention,” says Karrim.
Yima will also have a newsroom portal with reports and case studies about scams so that the public can be warned about them. It will be a trusted space where victims can report their incidents and request assistance.
“Yima empowers the consumer with a method to access products that will help secure their identity, report a scam incident and provide them with a layer of protection they never had before, free of charge,” says Karrim.
The SAFPS is engaging with local and international industry stakeholders to build and test the product, which it plans to launch in June.