Tanzania and Nigeria now lead Africa in fraud rates.
Tanzania and Nigeria now lead Africa in fraud rates, according to Sumsub’s Q1 2025 Identity Fraud Report. While Africa’s overall fraud rate dropped slightly from 3.50% to 3.42%, synthetic identity fraud—powered by AI—is rising sharply. “Africa’s fraud landscape is undergoing a seismic shift,” said Sumsub’s VP of Sales for Africa, Hannes Bezuidenhout. “Criminals are adapting with synthetic IDs and AI-powered scams.”
Tanzania and Nigeria reported increased fraud rates at 4.89% and 4.44% respectively, while South Africa and Kenya saw declines of 26% and 15.5%. Document forgery fell significantly—by nearly 80% in Nigeria—but synthetic fraud rose dramatically. Tanzania saw a 184% rise, and Nigeria a 192% increase.
Fraud remains high in finance and social platforms, despite reductions in IT and gaming sectors. “Fraud prevention is now a race between innovation and adaptation,” Bezuidenhout warned, urging firms to adopt advanced identity verification tools to detect digital impersonations.