{"id":642812,"date":"2026-04-26T10:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T08:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=642812"},"modified":"2026-04-26T10:01:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T08:01:29","slug":"criminals-target-shops-that-sell-affordable-phones-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/security\/642812-criminals-target-shops-that-sell-affordable-phones-in-south-africa.html","title":{"rendered":"Criminals target shops that sell affordable phones in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There is an increase in criminals targeting fashion retailers in South Africa, not for clothing but for the affordable smartphones they offer, which are highly sought after on the black market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justin Suttner, general manager of local security tech firm Aura, told MyBroadband that there was a significant increase in criminal activity targeting these devices and outlets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“A very large amount of commercial crime and suspicious activity is taking place in the fashion retailers, who typically are connected to selling telecommunication equipment,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suttner said Aura recorded a “huge spike” in break-ins centred around these retailers recently, with criminals targeting smartphones and cash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JSE-listed corporations like Pepkor and The Foschini Group offer cellular devices and associated hardware at their stores nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While extremely affordable cellular devices are often available at Pep stores, some outlets also offer Samsung Galaxy A\u2013series devices and pre-owned iPhones, which can cost more than R6,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These devices are usually placed behind glass displays in stores, and staff members must retrieve them for customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aura explained that criminals were becoming brazen in their attacks, and in some retailers, they would blow up vaults used by companies to store more expensive hardware and devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Companies like iStore, Samsung South Africa, and Vodacom use secure vaults to keep expensive stock off the sales floor and prevent device theft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suttner said that the value in stealing low-cost devices was in how quickly they could be fenced. “It might be a R500 cell phone, but at the end of the day, a R500 cell phone can be sold for R300,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“And not just about what the value of that cell phone is, it’s about how quickly it can get turned around.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Criminals are becoming more brazen and sophisticated <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Justin Suttner, general manager, Sub-Saharan Africa at Aura<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Suttner believes the increase in break-ins at fashion retailers and other commercial properties was directly linked to rampant poverty in South Africa. They are purely financially driven crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said their systems offered commercial businesses automated reactive and proactive security services, which included automated alarms and AI-powered camera monitoring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Companies can onboard Aura’s system into their camera network. Aura can then automatically detect suspicious activity and alert security companies to respond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retailers can also sign up for proactive security, where Aura’s system automatically dispatches security personnel to provide randomised patrols at any time of day to different locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though Aura is primarily a data-driven surveillance and monitoring platform, it provides on-the-ground private security services through its nationwide network of security partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company uses its data, tracking and monitoring technology to dispatch armed response personnel or emergency medical services to any location in the country, sometimes automatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) used its systems to power the Gauteng e-Panic Button app<\/a>. In October 2025, the GPG reported that the app had recorded 165,000 downloads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suttner said criminals were becoming more sophisticated to evade detection by security systems. Some break-ins were being planned weeks in advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Now we’re starting to see that the modus operandi<\/em> is changing, becoming more sophisticated around how criminals use technology to block and evade security technology,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained that criminals are now using devices to bypass alarms and camera systems and paying security guards or employees to gain access to properties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One example is that criminals tracked guard and armed response patrol patterns around commercial properties, which is why the company began offering randomised patrols.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, Aura expanded its services from personal safety to what Suttner called “fixed location vertical.” The company now responds to properties or infrastructure as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Security company Aura said it had seen an increase in brazen robberies of fashion retailers offering smartphones in South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341213,"featured_media":642813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[39212,9695,1944,104753,4278,645,104754,30154,41],"class_list":["post-642812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-security","tag-aura","tag-crime","tag-istore","tag-justin-suttner","tag-pep","tag-samsung","tag-samsung-galaxy-a","tag-the-foschini-group","tag-vodacom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642812"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341213"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=642812"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":643041,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642812\/revisions\/643041"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/642813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=642812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=642812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=642812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}