Paid or shipped to a fake buyer in South Africa? Where to report it

You've already paid, or already shipped, and the buyer turned out not to be who they claimed. If you paid: call your own bank today and ask it to recall the transfer, then report to your own police and take it to the South African channels below. If you shipped and weren't paid: there is no transfer to recall — start with your own police report, then the channels below, and ask your freight forwarder or carrier in writing what can still be stopped or held while you do. Each section says what that channel can actually do, and what it can't.

Which bank do I contact, and what can it do?

If you paid, this is the one step with a clock on it. Contact your own bank immediately, ask it to attempt a recall of the transfer, and ask it to notify the receiving bank — the sooner after the payment, the better the odds. INTERPOL's guidance for a victim who has paid is direct: "DO immediately alert your bank to the fraudulent transaction. The bank should immediately try to re-call the funds" (INTERPOL, Business Email Compromise Fraud). A recall runs bank to bank through the payment network, so it starts with your own bank, not with any authority — filing a report somewhere does not start it.

Your own bank's notice travels on the payment network; a direct call to the receiving bank's fraud line can land faster. South Africa's banking sector has a shared risk-information body, SABRIC. Its own pages describe an industry intelligence role and do not set out a complaints channel for a counterparty abroad (SABRIC, about us). The piece of it you can use here is its safety page: a per-bank "Fraud Hotline" list under the heading "Contact your bank and financial institutions" (SABRIC, how to stay safe).

Check what kind of number is listed before you dial. Some banks give only a domestic service line that won't connect from abroad; others also publish an international number, and at least one publishes a WhatsApp number, which crosses time zones better than a call does (SABRIC, how to stay safe). If the receiving bank's only listed number is domestic, ask your own bank to make the contact instead.

Should I report this at home as well?

Yes. INTERPOL lists it first among the steps for a victim who has paid: "Gather all documentation regarding the transaction and emails/invoices received and DO report the incident as soon as possible to your local police" (INTERPOL, Business Email Compromise Fraud). That guidance is written for the reader who paid, but the home report is the one step that applies either way: your own police force is the one desk you can walk into, and it can take a statement in your own language. If you shipped without being paid, this is where you start; if you paid, make the bank call first — that is the step with a clock on it — and file at home the same day. Ask for the case number — the South African unit in the next section and any lawyer will refer to it, and so will your bank if you paid.

Can South African police take a report from outside the country?

Not as a case you can open yourself, and not through its website. SAPS's own instruction for reporting a crime is "For emergencies or to report a crime, call 10111 or contact your nearest Police Station", and the same page states: "This TALK TO US page is not for emergencies and you cannot report a crime on the SAPS website" (SAPS, Talk to Us). Its anonymous Crime Stop line is closed to callers abroad as well: "The 08600 10111 share call number is country specific and cannot be phoned from outside the borders of South Africa. If you are outside South Africa's borders and want to share information on criminal activities, rather use the web based 'Submit a Tip' function or forward your 'tip-off' via the website www.crimeline.co.za" (SAPS, Crime Stop FAQ). A tip-off passes information to investigators; it is not a case opened on your complaint.

So treat the case your own police opened at home as the formal one, and put the South African unit on notice yourself rather than assuming the file will reach it. For a commercial matter of this kind the unit to approach is the Serious Commercial Crime Investigation component of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation — the DPCI — whose component head's phone number and email address are published on its contact page (SAPS, DPCI contact us). Write rather than call: from another time zone, an email carrying the evidence listed below gets further.

Does South Africa's Financial Intelligence Centre take reports directly from victims?

Not as a complaints desk for victims — nothing on its FAQ describes a channel for a defrauded counterparty abroad. The one route that FAQ does describe runs the other way: a business that suspects money laundering or an unusual transaction reports it to the FIC, "electronically via the reporting platform available on the FIC's website" (FIC, FAQ). So the FIC is not a step on your own list — put the effort into the other channels on this page.

What if someone used a real, registered company's name?

Notify that company — if its name was borrowed, it's a victim too and may not know. Separately, the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC), which runs South Africa's company registry, has a public route: its Case Management System, built to "improve how the public submits and tracks complaints and legal documents", lists "investigation of fraudulent activities, misconduct and unethical practices" among the case types it accepts (CIPC, Case Management System). CIPC also runs an Ethics and Fraud Hotline, but its own page scopes that one to "fraud, corruption, and unethical behaviour within CIPC" — matters such as "misuse of customer codes" and "unauthorised changes to entity information", i.e. the register being manipulated from the inside (CIPC, Ethics and Fraud Hotline). Neither route gets your money or your goods back: a CIPC case is a regulatory matter about the company and the register it keeps, not a claim for what you are owed.

Where else can I report this?

If you export from the United States, the Commercial Service's background-checks resource lists federal channels — USAgov for government scam-reporting sites and econsumer.gov for international scam complaints (trade.gov). Exporters elsewhere use the equivalent channel at home, starting with the police report above. If the funds landed in a South African account, INTERPOL's guidance also suggests considering a civil lawyer in the country where the beneficiary account is held (INTERPOL).

What evidence should I have ready?

Every channel on this page asks for parts of the same file, so assemble it while your first request is already in motion:

• The full email thread, including headers (not just the message text) — these show the real sending domain and route.
• If you paid: the payment reference your bank gave you, the date, the amount, and the beneficiary name and account — this is what a recall request is built on.
• Every bank detail you were given, and when each one arrived.
• If you shipped: the shipping documents — invoice, packing list, air waybill or bill of lading, and any delivery confirmation.

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

For how this usually starts, see a real company name, a fake buyer and checking the documents a buyer sends you. For the full map, see Trade scams aimed at exporters to Africa.

This is general information, not legal advice.