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Financial education

Scams, advisers and your rights

A guaranteed return, a request for your OTP, and an adviser who will not say whether they are licensed are three reasons to stop.

Reviewed 29 October 2026 by the WiT Money editorial team. This is general information, not a recommendation from a named adviser.

Key points

  • Look up an FSP on the FSCA's own register. A certificate in a photo is not the register.
  • Advice about a specific product can be a FAIS activity. General information on this site is not advice.
  • You can ask what a firm holds about you under POPIA. Do not send your identity number to a random form to do it.

Financial scams in South Africa repeat themselves: a WhatsApp investment group, a loan that needs an upfront fee, a bank SMS with a link, a person who has 'recovered' money for a fee. The trading-scam and illegal-lender guides cover those patterns. The rule that travels is simple. If they need your PIN, your password or a fee before any product exists, stop.

A financial adviser who recommends a product should be licensed for that advice, or work under someone who is. Ask for the FSP number and check it on the FSCA site. A licence is not a promise of performance. It is the minimum that lets you complain to the right ombud if the advice was negligent.

Your information

Banks, insurers and lenders must look after personal information under POPIA. They also have duties under FICA to identify you. Those are different laws. A firm can ask for your identity document and still not be allowed to sell your contact list. The Information Regulator is the office for privacy complaints.

Where a complaint goes

Credit agreements: the provider, then the National Credit Regulator. Advice: the provider, then the FAIS Ombud. A bank fee: the bank, then the ombud scheme. A medical scheme: the scheme, then the Council for Medical Schemes. Tax: SARS. Using the wrong office delays you. This website cannot lodge the complaint for you.

Questions readers ask

Does WiT Money recommend an adviser?

No. We do not rank advisers, and we do not take a fee for introducing you to one.

Related

Sources

Page updated 29 October 2026. A source date is the day WiT Money checked that page, not a promise the institution has not changed it since.