South Africa gives you a free ombud that can order a bank to put things right, a free identity-protection registration that most people have never heard of, and a police process that still means standing at a counter. Here is the order that works.
The bank, immediately
Call the fraud line and report it. Everything that follows turns on what the bank did before and after that call, so note the time and get a reference.
The police case number
Open a criminal case at a police station — in person, because that is how you get the case number, and the case number is what your bank and the ombud will ask for. The MySAPS app is useful alongside it, and Crime Stop on 08 600 10111 takes anonymous tip-offs.
The National Financial Ombud
Since March 2024 there is one ombud for banks, credit providers and insurers, replacing the separate offices people still search for. It is free, on 0860 800 900, and it investigates whether your bank acted fairly — its published test is whether the bank’s conduct contributed to the loss and whether it met its obligations before and after you reported.
Three practical points. Complain to the bank first; if you have not, the bank gets 21 working days to respond once the ombud takes it. Its decision does not bind you — you keep the right to go to court. And it cannot compel parties outside its jurisdiction, which explicitly includes crypto platforms and gambling operators, so money that went that way is beyond its reach.
There is no South African rule requiring reimbursement for a transfer you were tricked into authorising. What you can press is the bank’s own conduct: its authentication records, its alerts, its monitoring, and what it did to recover the funds once you told it.
If your identity was used
The Southern African Fraud Prevention Service offers Protective Registration, and it is free. It flags your ID number on the database its member credit providers check, so a new application in your name gets extra scrutiny. If someone has opened accounts using your details, this is the most useful thing you can do in an afternoon, alongside the free credit report you are entitled to once a year.
The same organisation runs Yima at yima.org.za — note the .org.za, the .co.za version is not it — where you can report a scam and check a suspicious link. Be clear what it is: a record-and-warn service whose stated purpose is preventing the next person from being caught. It does not investigate or recover money.
Investments, and checking before you pay
The Financial Sector Conduct Authority is on 0800 20 37 22, and its site lets you check whether a person or firm is authorised and read its published warnings. Do that before you invest, not after. It refers individual complaints to the ombud and acts itself on wider misconduct.
One body that is not a reporting route, despite its name coming up constantly: the banking industry’s risk information centre. It is an industry body with no consumer reporting mechanism.
What to have ready
The SAPS case number, the bank’s complaint reference, your account and the recipient’s details, the dates, times and amounts, your device and OTP records, and all correspondence with the bank. If someone is complaining on your behalf, the ombud needs a signed written mandate.
The most impersonated name in the country
SARS, by a distance — its own site catalogues hundreds of named scams, refreshed constantly. It never asks for passwords, one-time codes, banking PINs or eFiling credentials by email, SMS or phone, and it has a dedicated route for a compromised eFiling profile. If a message about a refund or a summons arrives, go to the SARS site yourself rather than through the link.
And the page itself
Whoever hosts the scam site and whoever sold its domain can take it down, usually the same day, if you send them the exact address and a screenshot. That is the fastest result available to anyone, and it needs no case number.
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