Thalia Pillay and Carla Wilby, the founders behind Orca Fraud, have developed software that is reportedly stopping up to R82 billion in fraudulent transactions every month.
That number alone tells you how deep the fraud problem runs.
Instead of reacting after money is lost, their system focuses on prevention. It analyses transaction patterns in real time, flags suspicious activity, and blocks fraud before it goes through. The shift here is subtle but important. It is not just about detection anymore, it is about stopping fraud before it becomes a loss.
What makes this more interesting is the scale.
Fraud has traditionally been a cat and mouse game, with criminals moving fast and institutions struggling to keep up. But software like this flips that dynamic. When detection becomes faster than execution, fraud becomes harder to pull off at scale.
It also points to something bigger happening across fintech and cybersecurity.
The real advantage is no longer just data, but how quickly you can act on that data. Systems that can monitor, decide, and respond in real time are starting to define the next phase of financial security.
For banks and financial institutions, that changes expectations.
Prevention becomes the standard, not recovery.
And for founders, it shows where opportunity is sitting. Not just in building new financial products, but in fixing the leaks that already exist inside the system.
Because when a single tool can stop tens of billions in fraud every month, it raises a bigger question.
How much of the financial system’s losses are actually preventable if the right tools are in place?
