Vouchers, deepfakes and AI feeding a 40% rise in digital fraud, investigators warn

Credit card theft, social engineering and new AI tools are being used to convert stolen funds into retail and digital vouchers, investigators say. The Citizen reported the warning on 14 August 2026 , citing forensic specialists who described how criminals move proceeds out of reach and exploit new technologies to target victims.

Chad Thomas of IRS Forensic Investigations told The Citizen that gift vouchers have become a prevalent means of laundering money as scrutiny of conventional banking transactions has increased. He said the fraud often begins with a stolen credit card or a social engineering attack, before the proceeds are converted into retail or digital vouchers and moved out of reach.

“It is a tool for money laundering and it’s not just retail gift vouchers. It’s music, betting and almost any other voucher you can imagine. It’s not just in retail stores, it’s vouchers that are available online,” Thomas said.

The semi-anonymous nature of vouchers makes them attractive to criminals, Thomas said, and tighter financial controls have pushed offenders toward such alternatives. The Citizen reported that South Africa’s efforts to strengthen financial crime controls and exit the Financial Action Task Force greylist had contributed to greater scrutiny, forcing criminals to find other channels.

The Citizen reported that estimates place the annual increase in cyber-related and digital fraud at around 40% globally. Investigators said older and less digitally savvy people are among the easiest targets.

Criminals exploit trust and use sophisticated banking language and personal information to make calls appear legitimate. Thomas warned one common tactic involving one-time passwords:

“When you get told an OTP has been sent to your phone and you’re now getting used to this new digital age, you expect that an OTP can only be sent by your banking organisation,”

He said once a victim hands over an OTP, criminals can gain the access they need.

The Citizen reported that fraud has become more sophisticated with artificial intelligence and deepfakes. Thomas described cases where victims believed they were speaking to relatives who urgently needed money, but the voices were not genuine.

“It’s not their child or their grandchild on the other end of the phone. It’s been engineered,” Thomas said. The article notes such scams require preparation, including obtaining voice samples, identifying relatives and understanding whether the intended victim had access to money.

Thomas emphasised that victims should not simply be dismissed as gullible. He described the perpetrators as highly practiced at manipulation:

“If you’re a criminal and you’ve chosen to follow that path, you’re damn good at what you do, and that’s why we call them con artists. They’re convincing and they’re confident,”

The Citizen’s coverage cited IRS Forensic Investigations and included direct quotes from Chad Thomas on the evolving tactics used in digital fraud.

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Source: citizen.co.za