Fraud is hammering the man on the street‚ with nearly a third of insurance claims in SA allegedly fake.

And healthcare insurance experts reported at a two-day fraud summit in Johannesburg that fraud in the sector cost the economy more than R10bn in 2017. SA Fraud Prevention Services revealed that in 2017 new fraud cases registered on its databases increased by 30%.

The message that emerged from the summit was clear: With organised crime syndicates going hi-tech and grant‚ insurance and health fraud claims rising‚ corporates and big businesses need to step up and start taking the debilitating crime‚ which costs the economy billions of rand‚ seriously.

Thandi Zulu‚ Black Sash’s Gauteng regional manager‚ said the number of cases of grant beneficiary fraud was alarmingly high.

“It’s affecting beneficiaries of multiple grants‚ from children‚ the elderly and the disabled.”