Have you received a ‘ghost fine’ recently? South African motorists have been warned of a surge in fake traffic fine scams doing their rounds.
It would appear there is a fair amount of confusion surrounding the upcoming Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act (AARTO), which is set to come into effect from December 1, and criminals are taking advantage of this.
Fines SA says it has seen a notable increase in complaints from motorists who claim they were tricked into paying fines that never existed.
Victims usually receive a message via WhatsApp, SMS or email, claiming that an outstanding fine needs to be paid in order to “immediately avoid penalties.” They are prompted to click a link, which opens a cloned payment page that resembles a municipal or aggregator site.
However, once the payment is made, the funds vanish, and there is no official record of settlement.
“We’re seeing ghost fine scams spreading fast,” says Barry Berman, CEO of Fines SA. “The messages look legitimate, same logos, same wording, but they direct motorists to unsafe websites. Once you’ve paid, your money’s gone, and the fine still stands.
“Fraudsters are exploiting uncertainty and the public’s urgency to comply before AARTO takes effect,” Berman added.
Motorists remain unclear on how AARTO and its new demerit system will affect their driving records. The system will tie traffic fines directly to licence points, with repeat offenders possibly facing a licence suspension or cancellation.
ALSO READ: Here’s how much you’ll pay for speeding (and how many points you’ll lose) under AARTO
The ghost fines surge is taking place amid a broader increase in digital fraud in South Africa’s banking sector.
The South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) says digital banking fraud accounted for 65.3% of reported incidents in 2024, with cases having risen from 31,612 in 2023 to 64,000 in 2024. Losses now top R1.4 billion per year.
The organisation said most of these incidents stem from social engineering tactics that exploit human error, rather than technical breaches of banking systems.
South Africans who receive such ‘ghost fines’ are urged to delete any suspicious notifications and be proactive about traffic fines by signing up with a verified traffic fines platform.
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