Capitec Bank fraud warning

Capitec Bank has warned about several common scams which can lead to severe financial losses for South African banking clients.
Capitec, founded in 1999 by Michiel le Roux and Riaan Stassen, is South Africa’s largest bank with 22.2 million active clients.
It has made exceptional use of technology and was ranked number one for outstanding disruption in financial services in the Africa Bank 4.0 Awards.
In 2016, Lafferty ranked it the world’s best bank. It was also the only bank to receive a five-star rating.
Capitec’s large customer base and strong technological foundations give it great insight into customer behaviour and scams that affect its clients.
Daily Investor recently spoke to Capitec to gain insight into the common scams South Africans should watch out for in 2025.
It said the most prevalent scams targeting consumers include authorised push payment fraud, where victims unknowingly initiate payments to fraudsters.
With this fraud, a banking client is typically tricked into making a large bank transfer to an account posing as a legitimate payee.
In reality, the scammer owns the account, and South Africans have lost large amounts of money through this fraud.
Capitec added that two other common scams which affect clients are investment scams and Ponzi schemes.
These two scams are closely related as they promise people unrealistic investment returns to attract victims.
A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment scheme that pays earlier investors with money from newer investors to make it look legitimate.
However, it always runs out of enough new investors to keep going, which causes the scheme to collapse and investors to lose their money.
Two such schemes in South Africa were MTI International and the BHI Trust, through which investors lost billions.
The best way to avoid falling victim to such schemes is to be highly suspect when they offer high investment returns.
South Africans are advised to visit the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) and see whether the company is registered with them before giving them any money.
Capitec also warned about goods and services scams, where victims pay deposits or full amounts for goods or services that are never delivered.
This type of fraud often involves deals that seem too good to be true and has been known to pick up during busy retail periods, such as Black Friday and December.
These scammers are particularly active with puppies and kittens, fleecing victims who try to buy pets.
After the person paid for the puppy or kitten, which they will never receive, the scammers continue to request money for things like vaccinations and transport.
Although not new, advance fee scams remain common, and many people lose significant amounts of money through them.
These scams require victims to pay a fee upfront for a job, loan, prize, or inheritance that doesn’t exist.
“This includes job scams, often via platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram. Victims are lured by offers of easy money through simple tasks but end up paying fees to scammers,” it said.
Scammers trick victims into making multiple payments under the guise of investing or trading, often referred to as ‘Pig Butchering’.
Scammers have traditionally used email to get new victims, but although it is still used, social media is becoming increasingly popular.
Capitec said many fraudsters use social media platforms, like Instagram and Facebook Marketplace, to find victims.
Last year, the South African Police Service (SAPS) issued a warning over criminals who are exploiting Facebook Marketplace to rob their victims in South Africa.
Colonel Priscilla Naidu warned the public to exercise caution and diligence when using social media platforms to make purchases.
“Verify the credibility of sellers, conduct transactions in safe locations, and consider involving law enforcement if there are any suspicions,” Naidu said.