Identity fraud is on the increase in SA, with the latest statistics recording a 400% surge from April last year to April this year, reports The Star.

Fraud statistics from the Southern African Fraud Prevention Service (SAFPS) have also revealed that impersonation fraud shot up by 356% from April 2022 to April last year.

The issue has come to the fore following the investigation into the citizenship of former Miss SA contestant, Chidimma Adetshina.

Home Affairs found prima facie reasons to believe that fraud and identity theft may have been committed by the person recorded in their records as Adetshina’s mother.

Home Affairs also noted that the alleged crime was committed when Adetshina was an infant and the mother whose identity was stolen could not register her child.

Manie van Schalkwyk, executive director of the SAFPS, said there are many ways in which criminals steal identities.

‘The simplest method, of course, is theft of the physical identity document, but more sophisticated modus operandi involves the use of social engineering techniques encouraging individuals to divulge their personal information, or cybercrime-related incidents where the individuals devices may be compromised using sophisticated malware or spyware.’

Van Schalkwyk said 40% of incidents target the 25-45 age group.

He added: 'We recommend that consumers who have lost their identity documents, had their documents stolen, or who believe their personal information or identity may be compromised, register for a Protective Registration, at no cost to the consumer, to prevent them from falling victim to identity theft or suffer the pain of recurrence if they have already.’

Legal analyst Mpumelelo Zikalala described identity fraud where immigrants steal the identity of a country’s citizen as the harshest form of fraud, notes The Star.

‘I think that is the worst one because inherently you have killed that person because they are not known to exist.’

He said Home Affairs employees have a huge role to play.

‘This type of fraud needs to be closely looked at because the person who allows it is an employee of Home Affairs, because someone who is not employed there does not know how the system works,’ said Zikalala.

‘I would have expected that in the issue of Adetshina’s mother, by now some people would have been arrested. It does not take rocket science to do that, just go back and check when the application was approved, who approved it, because it is there on records,’ he said.

Full report in The Star