Onboarding KYC
Confirm an applicant exists, is not deceased and can be located before extending credit, a service or a wallet.
Consumer/Person Trace
Locate people by SA ID number — for fraud prevention
Resolve a South African ID to available address, contact and employer records for a documented fraud-detection or fraud-prevention workflow. Your business must confirm its lawful processing basis and authority before running the trace.
Background check South Africa
Know who you’re dealing with.
Check a South African ID number and bring available identity details, addresses, phone numbers and employer records into one clear report.
- Identity details
- Address and phone records
- Employer information
Fraud Prevention Only
Documented lawful basis
Restricted access
View service details+
Legal basis
Legal basis
This service is restricted to documented fraud detection and fraud prevention workflows. Regulation 18(4)(b) of the National Credit Act (2005) and Section 11(1)(f) of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) may be relevant to your assessment, depending on your role and the facts. Your business must record its lawful basis, authority, necessity, access controls and retention. Data-subject objections under Section 11(3) of POPIA must be handled within your process.
Person Trace report
See the person behind the details.
One South African ID number brings available identity, address, phone and employer records into a clear report your team can review in minutes.
Run a Person Trace reportSample Person Trace
Background check report
Identity details
Name, ID, birth date and status fields
Address records
Available physical and postal addresses
Phone numbers
Available mobile and landline records
Employer information
Available employer and occupation records
One report. The available records your team needs to verify details and move the review forward.
View detailed sample report fields+
Response
What a Consumer/Person Trace returns
Submit a South African ID number and receive a structured response with the fields below. Array fields contain zero or more records depending on what the official data sources hold.
Identity
ID numberFull nameInitialsTitleGenderDate of birthMarital statusDeceased flagConsumer IDAddresses
Address typeAddress linePostal codeContact numbers
Number typeNumberEmployers
Employer nameOccupationAudit trail
Transaction referenceEnvironmentTimestampLoading sample report
Use cases
Fraud-prevention use cases
Every scenario below is a permitted fraud detection / fraud prevention application.
Payment Fraud Response
Investigate suspicious transactions by resolving an SA ID to current address, contact numbers and employer.
Employment Screening (fraud exposure)
Corroborate declared employer and address information during hiring to prevent payroll and insider fraud.
Returned-Mail Address Update
Locate a customer whose last known address no longer reaches them so you can re-verify them for ongoing service.
Insurance-Claim Investigation
Verify claimant identity and residence during suspected-fraud claim reviews under your fraud-prevention programme.
Identity-Theft Response
Quickly cross-reference identity fields when a customer reports impersonation or account-takeover fraud.
Background check South Africa
Know who you’re dealing with.
Check a South African ID number and bring available identity details, addresses, phone numbers and employer records into one clear report. Verify the information you received, spot mismatches early and make faster decisions.
Run a Person Trace reportConfirm the ID details
Check available names, date of birth, gender, marital status and deceased status linked to the ID number.
Find recorded addresses
Bring available physical and postal address records into the same report.
Check linked phone numbers
See available mobile and landline records linked to the South African ID number.
Review employer records
Add available employer and occupation information to your review.
One ID number. One clear report. The information your team needs to verify submitted details and move the review forward.
Real-time results
Under 10 seconds via the dashboard.
Structured fields
Normalised JSON — identity, addresses, contacts and employers.
Audit-logged
Every lookup is logged with a fraud-prevention attestation record.
API or dashboard
Integrate into your onboarding, fraud-ops or investigation workflow.
Data sources
Our data sources
Licensed South African data sources and their source records support the report. The result records the returned fields. Your business must establish its lawful basis under NCA Regulation 18(4)(b), POPIA Section 11(1)(f), or another applicable provision.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is my legal basis for using this service?
Consumer/Person Trace is restricted to documented fraud detection and fraud prevention workflows. Regulation 18(4)(b) of the National Credit Act (2005) and Section 11(1)(f) of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) may be relevant to your assessment. Your business must confirm its lawful basis, authority, necessity and safeguards before running the trace.
What purposes am I permitted to use this for?
Fraud detection and fraud prevention only. Typical use cases include onboarding KYC, payment-fraud verification, returned-mail address updates, employment screening for fraud exposure, insurance-claim fraud investigation, and identity-theft response. Any other use is prohibited by our terms.
What data is returned in a Consumer/Person Trace response?
Identity fields (ID number, full name, initials, title, gender, date of birth, marital status, deceased status, consumer ID), recorded addresses (type, address line, postal code), recorded contact numbers (type, number) and recorded employers (name, occupation). Every response includes a transaction ID and metadata block (environment, timestamp). Data is sourced from licensed South African data sources and their source records.
How quickly do I get results?
Results are returned through the VerifyNow dashboard when the source lookup completes. The same workflow is available to teams in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria and elsewhere in South Africa.
What if the data subject objects to the processing?
Data subjects retain the right to object on reasonable grounds under Section 11(3) of POPIA. If you receive such an objection you must stop processing and inform VerifyNow so the lookup record can be flagged. Section 18 of POPIA also governs notifications to data subjects about purpose and legal basis where feasible.
Where does the data come from?
The report uses licensed South African data sources and their source records. The result identifies the fields returned for the stated fraud-prevention or fraud-detection purpose. Your business must establish its lawful processing basis under NCA Regulation 18(4)(b), POPIA Section 11(1)(f), or another applicable provision.
Is Consumer/Person Trace available across South Africa?
Yes. Records cover individuals across all provinces, including Gauteng (Johannesburg, Pretoria), the Western Cape (Cape Town), KwaZulu-Natal (Durban), the Eastern Cape, Free State, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West and the Northern Cape.
Ready to strengthen your fraud-prevention stack?
Create a free account and run your first Consumer/Person Trace in minutes.