Standard Bank’s transaction data illustrates the scale of the shift. During Black Friday 2025, the bank recorded a 6.6% year-on-year increase in overall transaction volumes, while online transaction volumes surged by 75%. Digital wallet use also increased as more customers opted for cashless payment methods.
For retailers, the growth represents an opportunity to extend reach, capture demand and increase digital sales. It also expands the potential points of exposure to fraud, particularly as customers move between retailer websites, social media platforms, messaging applications and online marketplaces.
“There's a clear shift in how South Africans shop Black Friday deals now. But as online shopping grows, so does the opportunity for fraudsters to target unsuspecting shoppers,” says Dr Belinda Rathogwa, head of digital and e-commerce at Standard Bank.
The challenge is not limited to protecting individual transactions. Fraud can affect customer confidence, increase operational costs, create payment disputes and damage the reputation of retailers and the financial service providers supporting them.
For businesses preparing for peak trading periods, fraud prevention is therefore becoming part of the broader infrastructure required to support digital growth.
Black Friday creates a concentrated period of high transaction activity, with time-limited promotions and discounted products encouraging consumers to make purchasing decisions quickly. Fraudsters exploit this environment through fake online stores, phishing links, cloned retailer websites and impersonation scams.
Other tactics include fraudulent courier payment requests, account takeovers, card fraud and fake proof-of-payment notifications. Criminals may use edited payment confirmations to persuade merchants to release goods before funds have cleared.
The growing use of AI-generated content is also making fraudulent advertisements, websites and communications more convincing, increasing the difficulty of distinguishing legitimate businesses from impersonators.
“Scammers are impersonating legitimate retailers, delivery companies, banks and payment providers, and their tactics are becoming increasingly convincing,” says Neil Schwartzman, co-founder of payments technology company Swiffy.
“A professional-looking website doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a legitimate one. Fraudsters can replicate trusted brands, complete with convincing logos, product images and secure-looking checkout pages.”
The expansion of digital shopping channels adds another layer of complexity. Retailers increasingly engage customers through social media campaigns, third-party marketplaces, messaging platforms and affiliate channels, creating more opportunities for fraudulent actors to exploit brand recognition and consumer trust.
“The other contributing factor is that people don't just shop on retailer websites anymore. Deals often appear on their social media feeds – a sponsored advert, an instant message or an online marketplace,” says Rathogwa.
“As the number of shopping touchpoints grows, so do opportunities for scammers to promote fake deals or direct shoppers to fraudulent websites.”
For retailers, the implications extend beyond the immediate financial loss associated with a fraudulent transaction. A compromised customer account, disputed payment or fake proof of payment can create additional work for customer service teams, fulfilment operations, finance departments and fraud investigators.
The challenge is particularly pronounced during peak trading periods, when businesses are processing higher volumes and customers expect fast, seamless checkout experiences.
Retailers must therefore consider security alongside payment convenience and transaction speed. Measures such as real-time transaction monitoring, risk assessment, appropriate authentication and reliable payment processing can help identify suspicious activity while limiting unnecessary disruption to legitimate purchases.
For payments technology company Swiffy, these requirements are central to its operating environment. Founded in 2019, the business processes payments in highly regulated, high-risk sectors, including sports betting, trading and gaming.
Its co-founders say experience in these markets has reinforced the need to combine technology, transaction monitoring, compliance processes and partnerships to manage payment risk.
“Black Friday isn’t just a test of sales performance; it’s a test of the technology, security and infrastructure behind every transaction,” says Swiffy co-founder Jadie Naicker.
“As transaction volumes surge, so do the opportunities for fraud, which is why merchants should partner with trusted payment providers that prioritise proactive fraud prevention, real-time transaction monitoring and reliable processing. Security shouldn’t come at the expense of performance, and growth should never come at the expense of trust.”
One of the central challenges for digital retailers is implementing stronger security without making the purchasing process unnecessarily complicated.
Additional verification can help reduce fraud exposure, but excessive friction can also contribute to abandoned transactions and a poorer customer experience. Businesses need systems capable of assessing transaction risk and applying proportionate controls.
“Real-time risk assessment allows businesses to identify suspicious activity behind the scenes while genuine customers check out with minimal friction, with additional verification applied only where the risk is higher,” says Swartzman.
This approach places greater emphasis on the intelligence behind the payment process, rather than relying exclusively on customers to identify suspicious activity themselves.
For retailers, the choice of payment provider is consequently an important operational decision. Beyond processing transactions, providers may play a role in monitoring suspicious patterns, supporting compliance requirements and helping businesses respond to potential fraud incidents.
The effectiveness of these systems can influence both the security and reliability of a retailer’s digital sales channel.
Fraud prevention is not the responsibility of one business alone. Retailers, banks, payment providers and technology partners each occupy different points in the transaction journey, making coordination important when suspicious activity is detected.
Schwartzman says Swiffy’s experience in high-risk payment sectors has shaped its approach to security, which combines technology, real-time monitoring, compliance processes and partnerships.
The company reports a fraud rate of 0.023%. This is a company-reported figure and has not been independently verified, but it illustrates the importance Swiffy places on fraud monitoring as part of its service proposition.
Co-founder Christian Di Zio also describes an incident in which a customer fell victim to a phishing scam that resulted in a fraudulent transaction.
According to the company, its fraud and compliance team intervened before the funds could be accessed or withdrawn by the fraudster, allowing the money to be recovered and refunded.
The example highlights the potential role of payment providers in responding to suspicious activity, although the effectiveness of any intervention depends on the circumstances and how quickly an incident is identified and reported.
For merchants, having clear escalation procedures and established relationships with banking and payment partners can help reduce the time between detecting a problem and taking action.
Consumer awareness remains an important part of the wider fraud-prevention ecosystem. However, businesses cannot rely on shoppers alone to distinguish legitimate payment requests from increasingly sophisticated scams.
Retailers can support safer transactions by communicating through verified channels, maintaining secure checkout environments, providing clear payment instructions and ensuring that customers know how to contact the business if something appears suspicious.
Customers should also be encouraged to access retailers through official websites, verify payment details and avoid sharing sensitive banking information or one-time passwords.
For merchants, clear communication can help reduce the risk of impersonation and fake payment notifications being mistaken for legitimate transactions.
As digital commerce expands, trust is becoming an increasingly important part of the customer proposition. A smooth checkout may help convert a sale, but confidence that personal and payment information is being handled securely is essential to sustaining the relationship.
With online transaction volumes rising sharply during Black Friday, the ability to manage fraud while maintaining payment performance will be an important consideration for retailers preparing for peak trading.
The commercial opportunity lies in growing digital sales without allowing security weaknesses to undermine customer confidence. For retailers and their payment partners, fraud prevention is no longer simply a technical safeguard; it is part of the infrastructure supporting long-term digital commerce growth.
