26 Feb Bank hit by cyber attack as study shows Africans hit most by financial scams

The Land and Agricultural Development Bank of South Africa has confirmed it was the victim of a ransomware attack on 12 January 2026, after weeks of speculation following disruptions to its IT systems.

The state-owned lender said a third party gained access through a vulnerability on an internet-facing server and deployed ransomware that encrypted part of its server environment. Its website remains offline after initially informing users that certain transactions and services were “temporarily suspended following disruptions to internal IT systems”.

“The identity of the threat actor is unknown to us at this time. However, we can confirm that the incident was perpetrated by a Ransomware-as-a-Service group,” the bank said.

It added that once it became aware of the breach, it took immediate steps to secure its systems, removed unauthorised access and isolated affected servers to prevent further compromise. Specialist cybersecurity and forensic experts were engaged to investigate the impact.

“We reported the security compromise to the Information Regulator in accordance with POPIA, as well as the South African Police Services,” the bank said.

“We are liaising with regulatory authorities, including the Prudential Authority, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, the Financial Intelligence Centre and the National Credit Regulator.”

This news comes after it was announced that South Africans are among the most targeted victims of online scams globally, despite losing far less per incident than counterparts in wealthier countries, according to new data from the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA).

While the average scam victim in the United States loses just over $1,000 and victims in Austria lose close to $3,000, South Africans lose an average of about $130 per incident. Yet the country ranks among the most heavily targeted worldwide.

GASA found that South Africans face an average of 258 scam attempts per person each year – roughly one every 36 hours. Out of 42 countries surveyed in its global report, South Africa ranked fifth for daily scam exposure.

“Generally, scammers don’t optimise for the highest theoretical payout per victim; they optimise for ease, scale, and probability of success,” said Patricia Eromosele, director of GASA’s Africa Chapter. “A smaller payout that succeeds thousands of times is often more profitable than a large payout that rarely converts.”

She added: “In many lower-income or rapidly digitising markets, fraud detection systems may be less mature, consumer awareness may be lower, and enforcement may be inconsistent, which increases conversion rates and reduces operational risk. At the same time, modern scams are highly automated and volume-driven, so attackers focus on where they can reach most people with the least resistance. Wealthier economies may offer higher potential payouts, but they also have stronger protections, better monitoring, and more aggressive prosecution. So, in practice, scammers tend to follow scalable opportunities and low friction rather than simply targeting where the most money exists.”

Despite high awareness levels, many South Africans continue to fall victim. According to the survey, 98 per cent of respondents said they take at least one proactive step to verify whether an offer is legitimate. Nevertheless, 77 per cent reported falling for a scam in the previous 12 months, with victims experiencing an average of 2.2 successful compromises each.

Based on its survey data, GASA estimates that scammers extracted around $2.3 billion from South Africans over a 12-month period, affecting more than 17.5 million adults.

Among those who chose not to report scams, one of the most common reasons cited was the belief that doing so would make no difference.

Law enforcement agencies, particularly in Southeast Asia, have recently carried out high-profile raids on scam compounds. However, Eromosele said such crackdowns have yet to dent overall activity.

“We have not noticed any dent in scam activity, which continues to explode,” she said. “Of course, crackdowns matter as they disrupt operations and raise costs. But unless enforcement is coordinated across borders, activity doesn’t disappear, it relocates.”

“Scam networks operate regionally, while enforcement is still largely national. That asymmetry is the core vulnerability. We need the same level of real-time coordination on scams that we see in counterterrorism or anti-money-laundering. Moreover, this is a systems problem. And systems require coordinated reform, not isolated raids,” she added.

In her view, authorities should focus less on headline-grabbing arrests and more on disrupting financial flows.

“Arrests are visible. Asset seizures and sustained fund disruption are what actually change incentives,” she said. “The financial rails are the choke point. If funds can’t move, the business model collapses.”