Online Gambling Fraud Skyrockets 3x in South Africa, Reports SumSub.
UK-based software firm SumSub reported a triple increase(since 2025) in online gambling fraud in South Africa. This was reported in its iGaming Fraud Report for 2026.
The fraud was generally carried out by organised syndicates rather than individuals. SumSub regional director for Southern Africa, Jarryd Jensen, confirmed this.
The report showed that online gambling fraud in South Africa more than tripled between the start and end of 2025. However, Jensen said other African countries were hit harder as well.
Jarryd Jensen said, “If you take a look at the report, you will actually find that there are some countries on the African continent that are actually recording higher fraud rates. So, if we dive a little deeper, the top five are Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Malawi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. South Africa is not in the top five.”
Jensen said SumSub based the report on its own verification and transaction data from the online gambling sector between 2021 and the first quarter of 2026.
He said, “The analysis included more than 3 million observed fraud attempts. And of course, we had interviews with fraud compliance and industry specialists. The fraud rate more than tripled from the start of 2025 into the second half of the year. Particularly because of the use of real stolen identities.”
Jensen believes that AI and increased internet and technological knowhow has led and is leading to more and more gambling frauds.
He said, “An application to join an online service in the online gambling space could look fairly normal on its own, so very difficult to detect. It’s not really so much document forgery anymore. People are using real identities. The fraud only becomes clear once you connect the signals across device, identity, transactions, and behaviour.”
Mitigating The Problem!
Jensen said many of the online gambling operators in South Africa are doing their best to keep up with these tactics. He advocated for Manual processes to be eliminated in the near future. Technology will play a key factor for observing, controlling as well as curbing this rising issue.
According to the National Gambling Board (NGB), interactive or online gambling is illegal in South Africa. In exception to this is online sports betting through licensed bookmakers.
While Online sports betting is permitted, the NGB warns that operators like Hollywoodbets, Betway, SportingBet, Sunbet, and SuperSportBet are abusing loopholes by disguising casino-style games as contingency bets.
This is the loophole at the centre of South Africa’s fight about online gambling. It has enabled operators to present casino-style games as betting contingencies.
The NGB has been steadfast in its position that online gambling is illegal in South Africa. It emphasised this position in its 2024/25 annual results.
The board said, “There has been a growing trend among bookmakers to offer interactive gambling products under the guise of betting on contingencies. Particularly through online casino games. While some operators claim that these offerings are permissible under the National Gambling Act, they clearly fall outside the scope of traditional contingency betting.”
Its annual report stated that the NGB had identified major regulatory compliance gaps across provincial gambling boards. Primarily due to contraventions of Section 11 of the National Gambling Act.
Summing up, the regional director believes that, to combat these regulatory risks, operators must immediately eliminate manual processes in favor of advanced technology. The ongoing dispute underscores a critical tension between national regulations and provincial oversight in the South African gambling sector.
