Trade scams aimed at exporters to Africa: the warning signs

Most buyers in South Africa are exactly who they say they are — they negotiate a price, sign a purchase order, and take delivery like any other customer. The exceptions follow a handful of patterns — most of them already documented by South Africa's own authorities and by the guides in this series. This page is a short map of those patterns: the sign to watch for, the first step to take, and where to read the full guide for each one.

A fake government order, or a fee to "approve" a tender

Someone writes on what looks like an official government letterhead and tells you you've won an order. South Africa's National Treasury has reissued its warning about this pattern in the Government Gazette (Gazette No. 2025/294). What it wants is goods, not money: the sign is a delivery address that is not a government office, and contact details that exist only inside the message. First step: look the department up on its own gov.za site, call the number published there, and ask whether the order exists — before you ship anything.

Separately, someone may phone claiming to be a procurement official and ask for a payment to "approve" or "release" a tender — one you have bid for, or one they offer to secure for you. The Eastern Cape Office of the Premier warned about exactly this in October 2025, describing callers who promise tender approvals for a fee, and said that "no money is ever required for government tenders or procurement opportunities to be approved" (The Herald). Nobody has to be paid to put you on the supplier database either — you register yourself on the National Treasury's CSD (CSD registration). The sign is the ask itself: a payment to a person, or to an account you were given over the phone, in exchange for an award. First step: look the department up on its own gov.za site, call the number published there, and ask whether the tender and the official exist — before you pay anyone. Full guide, with the primary warnings: How to get paid safely when selling to South Africa.

A mid-deal request to change bank details

An email arrives mid-transaction — from a domain that looks almost right, or from a mailbox you already trust — saying the buyer's bank account has changed. Never act on the strength of an email alone: call a number you already had before the message arrived, not one written in it. Full guide: How to get paid safely when selling to South Africa.

A real company's name, a buyer you've never dealt with

A buyer gives you a real, registered South African company's name and registration number — but their own domain, phone number and bank account. A registration search confirms the company exists; it says nothing about who is emailing you. Call the company on the number published on its own website, and check who holds the domain the message came from, before you treat either as the buyer's. Full guide: A real South African company name, a fake buyer: how to tell.

Documents that look official

Registration certificates, B-BBEE certificates, tax compliance confirmations, "proof of payment" screenshots — the document is the easiest part of a deal to produce, and each of these is issued (or not issued at all) by a specific body. First step: take each document back to the body named on it, using contact details from that body's own site rather than the ones printed on the document — and treat money as received only when your own bank says it has arrived, never on a screenshot. Full guide: Checking the documents a South African buyer sends you.

A "customs" or "port release" fee

Someone asks you, or your buyer, to wire a fee to a private account or to a party you cannot trace back to your own shipment to "release" a shipment at the border. SARS has warned that individuals pose as its own Customs officials and request payments to release detained parcels, and says plainly that this is a scam (SARS). Whoever the demand comes from, a customs payment has no reason to go to a private account: pay nothing and go back to your buyer on a channel you already had. Full guide: Asked to pay a customs or port release fee?.

Samples now, a large order on credit later

A buyer orders and pays for samples, builds trust over a few small orders, then asks for a large shipment on credit before disappearing. No public South African warning covers this pattern the way the ones above are covered, so treat it as a payment-terms question rather than a scam alert: a large order is a new deal, not a continuation of the small ones, and it gets a deposit and a milestone schedule whatever the track record before it. Both are in Templates for a safe B2B deal in Africa.

Before you ship or change a payment detail

Confirm the company and the channel before you rely on either. Our guides to checking a South African company and verifying a company anywhere in Africa cover the registry side; ready-to-use documents cover the paperwork side.

If you've already paid or shipped to the wrong buyer

See Paid or shipped to a fake buyer in South Africa? Where to report it for who to contact and what evidence to gather.

B2B.Africa never asks you to pay a buyer, a tender committee or an agent.

This is general information, not legal advice.