South Africa has become the second country globally to introduce Scam Signal, a real-time fraud detection service developed to combat authorised push payment (APP) fraud.
Scam Signal is a real-time fraud detection service launched by the GSMA to help banks combat APP scams – one of the fastest-growing forms of financial crime globally.
The launch of Scam Signal in SA was the result of a collective effort involving several major banks, in collaboration with MTN Chenosis, global data analytics software company FICO, Jersey Telecom, as well as the GSMA.
The South African Banking Risk Information Centre played a key role by facilitating open discussions between banks and mobile network operators to address shared challenges and align industry efforts.
The solution, targeted at the financial and telecoms industries, analyses mobile network data during live transactions, enabling banks to identify suspicious behaviour and intervene before fraudulent transfers are completed.
By correlating telecoms intelligence with banking data, Scam Signal allows financial institutions to detect and disrupt social engineering attacks in progress.
The service is built on close collaboration between banks and mobile network operators, allowing suspicious phone activity to be linked directly to high-risk payment behaviour.
This intelligence enables proactive intervention by banks, such as pausing transactions, issuing real-time alerts, or engaging customers during moments of heightened risk, helping to break the influence of scammers before funds are lost.
Brian Gorman, fintech lead at the GSMA, says the scale and complexity of APP fraud demands a coordinated response across industries. “Combining mobile network intelligence with banking data provides a powerful new layer of defence against scams that exploit human behaviour rather than technical vulnerabilities.”
According to the GSMA, the platform has demonstrated strong impact since inception in the UK in 2024, reducing the number of scam victims by up to 41% and lowering overall fraud losses by as much as 44%.
Financial fraud continues to pose a significant threat to South Africa’s financial system, with losses approaching R3 billion last year alone, according to the GMSA.
APP fraud occurs when criminals deceive individuals or businesses into willingly authorising payments to accounts controlled by fraudsters. These scams often involve impersonation of trusted organisations or creating a false sense of urgency, making them particularly difficult to detect and stop. Unlike unauthorised transactions, victims initiate the payments themselves, limiting banks’ ability to reverse losses once funds have been transferred.
Waseem Amra, GM for products and platforms at MTN Chenosis, says the local development of Scam Signal followed a strongly collaborative approach.
“Our development approach is rooted in industry insights and a clear understanding of the business problem. By drawing lessons from UK deployments and engaging closely with South African banks and partners, we have tailored this service specifically for our market.”
Following the successful launches in the UK and SA, work is already underway to deploy Scam Signal in additional global markets, say the partners.
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