Black Friday: online fraud threatens South African retailers
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Bizcommunity
During Black Friday 2025, Standard Bank recorded a 75% rise in online transactions in South Africa. According to its executive Belinda Rathogwa, this growth also widens the risks of fraud for consumers and retailers.
Online fraud is growing as South Africa’s Black Friday shifts onto the internet, according to data from Standard Bank. During Black Friday 2025, the bank recorded a 6.6% rise in total transaction volume year on year, while online transactions jumped 75%. The use of digital wallets also increased.
The bank stresses that this growth multiplies points of exposure to fraud, particularly between merchants' websites, social networks, messaging apps and online marketplaces. Dr Belinda Rathogwa, head of digital and e-commerce at Standard Bank, believes fraudsters are increasingly targeting buyers as online shopping grows.
Scammers use fake online shops, phishing links, copies of retailers' websites and identity theft. They also use fake delivery payment requests and falsified payment confirmations to obtain goods before funds are credited. Content generated by artificial intelligence makes these scams harder to distinguish from genuine retailers.
