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South Africa’s major telecommunications operators lost R198.9 million to subscription fraud in the 12 months to April 2026, as reported cases surged by more than 300%, highlighting growing vulnerabilities in the country’s telecom and digital ecosystem.
The figures, released by the Communications Risk and Information Centre (COMRiC), cover MTN, Vodacom, Cell C, Telkom and Liquid and show that subscription fraud is becoming an increasingly costly problem for operators.
According to the industry body, reported incidents rose 307% year-on-year to 14,897 cases, with March 2026 alone accounting for 2,475 incidents.
Criminals Exploit Legitimate Identities
Unlike some sophisticated cyberattacks that require advanced technical skills, subscription fraud can rely heavily on legitimate-looking documentation.
Fraud syndicates reportedly approach telecom operators seeking expensive services while presenting genuine financial information, including valid bank statements and identity documents.
COMRiC chief executive officer Thokozani Mvelase said some criminals have gone as far as purchasing bank-account information from legitimate account holders and compensating them for allowing their details to be used.
Once the services are approved, the fraudsters receive the products or services but fail to make the required payments.
The tactic makes it difficult for operators to identify fraudulent customers through conventional verification procedures because the information submitted during onboarding can appear authentic.
More Cases, Smaller Individual Losses
While the number of incidents climbed sharply, the average financial impact of each case moved in the opposite direction.
COMRiC reported that the average loss per incident fell by 75% to approximately R13,400.
However, the dramatic increase in the number of fraudulent accounts more than offset the decline in the average loss, resulting in the nearly R200 million cumulative loss recorded by the operators.
Beyond the direct financial losses, subscription fraud can increase the cost of customer verification, credit assessment and fraud prevention for telecom companies.
Telcos Build Shared Fraud Database
The growing scale of the problem is pushing South Africa’s telecom operators towards greater cooperation.
The major operators are sharing information and working on an industry-wide database designed to help identify fraudulent networks, repeat offenders and organised syndicates more quickly.
Such collaboration could make it harder for fraudsters to move between operators after being identified by one company.
The approach also reflects the changing nature of telecom fraud, where criminals increasingly exploit weaknesses across business processes rather than attacking network infrastructure directly.
Cyberattacks Add to Telecom Security Pressure
Subscription fraud is only one component of the broader security challenges facing South Africa’s telecommunications sector.
COMRiC said major operators remain frequent targets for cyberattacks, including ransomware attempts.
South Africa’s relatively advanced digital economy has also made it an attractive target for cybercriminals.
The 2026 African Cyberthreat Assessment Report by Interpol found that South Africa accounted for 92% of ransomware detections across Africa.
Separately, Palo Alto Networks reported in March 2026 that an organisation in South Africa was experiencing a breach approximately every three hours, underscoring the intensity of the country’s cyber threat environment.
SIM-Swap Fraud Remains a Threat
The risks extend beyond subscription fraud and corporate cyberattacks.
During the same reporting period, 383 SIM-swap fraud cases were recorded, resulting in approximately R4.26 million in losses for the telecom operators.
Fraudsters are also increasingly using familiar communication channels, including WhatsApp, telephone calls and SMS, to impersonate companies, employees or trusted individuals.
As digital communication becomes more sophisticated, impersonation scams can become increasingly convincing and difficult for customers to recognise.
Human Trust Becomes Security Weakness
The latest figures point to a broader challenge for the telecommunications industry: protecting networks is no longer enough.
Fraudsters are increasingly targeting the people, identities and processes surrounding digital services, exploiting trust to bypass security controls.
Mvelase described human trust itself as an attack surface, highlighting the need for operators to strengthen not only their technical systems but also customer verification, internal processes and industry-wide information sharing.
For South Africa’s telecom sector, the R198.9 million subscription-fraud loss is therefore more than a financial statistic. It demonstrates how organised criminals can exploit legitimate information and human behaviour at scale forcing operators to rethink how they detect fraud before services are approved rather than simply responding after losses occur.
