Scammers often pose as investment experts with glamorous lifestyles to trick you into believing you'll make a lot of money.
Beware, as some scammers pay initial returns, tricking you into investing more, and then they suddenly disappear. Others vanish as soon as you’ve paid over your money.
What to look out for:
- Promises of very high returns in a very short time, like doubling or tripling your money in hours or a few days
- The promoter/sender’s social media profile shows exotic overseas travel destinations, expensive cars and designer clothes
- Urgency: scammers do this to limit the amount of time you may spend researching and thinking about the investment by creating a sense of hurry and urgency
- Anything sold as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity"
- Promises of big rewards if you recruit new investors
- Professional-looking investment websites or crypto exchanges with little to no information about the company itself
- If it is difficult to understand how the investment will make returns
- The promoter/sender offers to help you with your first few trades and claims to have insider knowledge of the market
We understand it may feel easier to trust someone who claims to know investments and how they work, especially when they are the ones who approached you. But, before you accept help from anyone, do your own research first.
Tips to stay safe:
- Don’t send money to anyone who contacts you on social media asking you to invest
- Do your research and check if the investment platform is licensed with the Financial Services Conduct Authority (FSCA)
- Avoid sharing personal information until you verify that the investment is legitimate
- If promoters promise big returns without making it clear that there are significant risks, you should avoid them at all costs
Job-seekers are also under attack
Mzansi job-seekers fall victim to job scams because scammers use the same platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram to promise easy ways to make money from home.
Watch out for jobs offering easy money for simple tasks like writing reviews or liking and subscribing to YouTube channels. Scammers build your trust by paying small amounts at first. Then, they offer bigger jobs that need you to pay a fee to earn more – but it's a scam.
How a typical job scam works:
- You get a message or an invite to a group chat from a company
- They promise an extra income or big payout while working from home
- They pay you for small tasks at first
- They offer you bigger jobs and more money if you pay a fee
- After you pay them, they disappear with your money
How to protect yourself:
- Beware of messages promising easy money and people pretending to be from real companies
- Check if a job is real by contacting the company directly or visiting their official website
- Never pay to earn (real jobs won't ask for upfront payment)
Follow us on social media to learn about different scams and how to slam them.
