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Trading

Trading scams and misleading claims

A guaranteed return, a WhatsApp group and a request for remote access are not a brokerage. Check the firm on the regulator's own site.

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

Key points

  • No one can guarantee a trading profit.
  • Check the FSCA register yourself. A screenshot of a licence is not the register.
  • Do not install software that lets a stranger use your computer.

Scams copy the look of a platform, invent a balance that goes up, and then block the withdrawal unless you pay a tax or a fee. The fee is the theft. Real tax is paid to SARS, not to a person in a chat.

Other schemes are closer to a real firm and still mislead: a signal service that shows only winners, a managed account you cannot audit, or a bonus that cannot be withdrawn until you deposit more. Treat the bonus as a reason to read the terms, not as free money.

What to do

Stop paying. Tell your bank. Report the firm to the FSCA if it is offering financial services, and to the police if money has gone. WiT Money cannot recover it.

Questions readers ask

If my friend made money, is it safe?

Your friend may have been paid with later deposits. That is how these schemes look successful until they stop.

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.