Standard Bank fraud warning for South Africa
With South Africa’s 2026 season set to start soon, Standard Bank has warned that fraudsters are already targeting unsuspecting taxpayers
The tax season for individual taxpayers (non-provisional) will open on 13 July 2026 and run to 23 October 2026.
Auto assessments will begin two weeks before, starting 1 July 2026 and running through to 12 July.
Non-provisional taxpayers are those who earn a regular salary or wage from an employer and have PAYE deducted throughout the year.
These taxpayers usually have simple tax affairs with no additional income sources, and they are either auto-assessed or submit their tax returns once during Filing Season every year.
A provisional taxpayer earns income in addition to a regular salary or from a different source altogether.
Standard Bank warned that criminals typically ramp up activity as tax season approaches, with the sole aim of defrauding consumers.
“We’ve seen many cases where fraudsters send bait communication through text, email, WhatsApp or phone calls,” said Standard Bank’s Head of Fraud Operations, Marius le Roux.
With these tactics, fraudsters gain access to your banking profile, steal money and trick you into sending them money.
Using these tactics, fraudsters can gain access to your banking profile, steal your money, or trick you into sending them money.
The Big Four bank provided examples of common scams criminals use to target South African taxpayers.
Extortion and ‘Secure Account’ Scams
Fraudsters typically contact you claiming that there’s a problem with your 2025 tax return and that you could face legal action.
They will often send fake documents that make their story seem real. “They may try to scare you so that you panic and follow their instructions,” said Le Roux.
After they believe that you are convinced, they will ask you to pay money to make the issue go away.
However, in other cases, they may give you a fake account number and say you owe money to SARS, or move your money to a “safe” account while investigating.
The criminals often pretend to be working with the bank, the police, or other authorities.
Change of Banking Details
Fraudsters can also send fake SARS banking details, stating that you owe money to this account. Because many people expect communication, these messages appear reliable.
The fraudsters will often state that if you pay the fraudulent bank account quickly, they will offer a discount.
This focus on speed is an attempt by criminals to prevent taxpayers from verifying the details.
Fake messages with links and QR codes
Another common trend is for fraudsters to send fake messages, with links, attachments or QR codes. These can be sent via email, SMS or WhatsApp.
These links, files or QR codes can also contain malicious software that can be downloaded onto one’s device, giving fraudsters access to one’s device and banking profile.
Sometimes they redirect you to a fake SARS or Banking site, prompting you to capture sensitive information, such as your login credentials, One-Time-Pin, or card details.
How to protect yourself
Standard Bank provided a host of ways that South Africans can protect themselves from instances of fraud, such as:
- Always stop and think before making a payment to someone you don’t know. Speak to someone you trust first.
- Your bank or official organisations can secure your money themselves. They won’t ask you to move it to another account.
- Always check banking details directly with the organisation before making a payment. For SARS payments, you may use the business directory offered on digital channels.
- Be careful of links, attachments and QR codes.
- The bank will never ask you to click a link or scan a code to access your account, approve payments, or update your information.
“Things are not always what they seem. Scams pretending to be from SARS are likely to increase, so customers need to stay alert,” said Le Roux.
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