A number of South Africans have been left devastated after falling victim to an online Ponzi scheme known as Medical Digital Intelligence (MDI).
Promising high returns through supposed investments in virtual pharmaceutical products, the scam has swindled citizens out of their hard-earned savings, with individual losses ranging from R1 300 to nearly R600 000.
Some of the victims approached Specialised Security Services (SSS), led by well-known investigator Mike Bolhuis, to investigate the perpetrators. Bolhuis told ITWeb that the scam has generated approximately 1 070 complaints to date.
The victims were lured by the illusion of legitimacy, as the fraudsters used the name of a genuine US-registered company – Medical Digital Intelligence – to create credibility.
ITWeb spoke to Gavin Ovsak, the legitimate CEO of Medical Digital Intelligence, who confirmed that he heard about the South African scam impersonating his company’s name in May. “Medical Digital Intelligence is my company and I am not involved in South Africa,” said Ovsak.
Bolhuis explained that the scammers often send forged documents to prove they are endorsed or regulated by government entities.
Nyiko Mdluli (not real name), one of the many victims, told ITWeb she invested R6 800, lured by the promise of earning R21 800 within three months. After an initial withdrawal of R11 000, she later found her account blocked.
“I first got to know about the investment thing through a family friend,” she said. “I saw the family member invest and earn a lot of money every week until I decided to also give it a shot.”
After being told to ‘recharge’ her account with R5 111 to regain access, she realised she had been scammed.
Complex networks
Mdluli and others were introduced to the scheme through personal networks – friends, family, church members – and were further convinced by seeing others successfully withdraw money at first.
Another victim, Mrs Maseko (not her real name), invested R1 300 and was also unable to withdraw.
“They promised higher returns and what drew me was the fact that others received it,” she said. “But they also got scammed during the process.
“I found out that it was a scam when I withdrew from the company app and the money did not get to my account within 48 hours.”
Said another victim: “We’ve been scammed by so-called Medical Digital Intelligence. The company was an online platform where they created an app and they claimed to receive profit every day. Now the app is no longer working and a lot of people invested a lot of money. The man who was in charge of this platform is called Mr Moffat and he was going around doing presentations, giving people hopes that the platform is not going anywhere, and in the presentations free food was provided [but] now our monies are gone.”
So paranoid were the other victims that when approached by ITWeb to share their experiences, they blocked the publication on WhatsApp after accusing it of working in cahoots with the scammers.
SSS suspects local perpetrators are behind the scam, given that the bank accounts used are all based in South Africa.
Bolhuis also questioned why banks, despite witnessing suspicious activity, fail to alert or protect clients.
“We are seeing an increase in anonymous, faceless scammers. These scams are sophisticated and widespread. Our cyber crime team works closely with SAPS, which is, unfortunately, overwhelmed due to lack of resources, training and manpower,” he said.
Police case
One of the worst-hit areas is Mkhuhlu in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, where at least 20 women confirmed being scammed and have opened a case with police – case number 123/7/2025.
According to SAPS, the matter is now with the Nelspruit Serious Commercial Crime Investigation Unit, and investigations are ongoing.
Victims in the area include (not their real names) Twanana Ntimane (R12 000 lost), Sindi Nyathi (R92 433) and Agnes Makamu (R7 000), many of whom were drawn into the scheme by trusted people already involved.
JD Pienaar, head of the Johannesburg cyber crime unit at SSS, confirmed the prevalence of these scams.
“The golden rule remains: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” he warned.
Bolhuis urged the public to remain vigilant and thoroughly research any investment offers.
“Education is key,” he said, encouraging people to follow SSS’s public alerts to stay informed about the latest scam trends.
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