Is that loan message real? How to spot a fake

Treat any loan offer as fake if it asks you to pay something before the money arrives, promises approval without a credit check, or wants your PIN or one-time PIN. A registered lender assesses you first, gives you a written quote and agreement, and takes repayments only on the terms of that agreement.

The warning signs

Loan scams in South Africa tend to follow the same script. Any one of these is reason to stop:

• A fee before payout. It might be called an admin, insurance, legal or “release” fee. Real lenders set out their fees in the agreement and don’t ask you to pay before the loan is paid out.
• Approval that is “guaranteed”, or promised without any credit check. Registered lenders must assess affordability, and the National Consumer Tribunal has found advertising that offers loans without credit checks, or welcomes “blacklisted” borrowers, unlawful.
• Contact only through WhatsApp or a personal cellphone. Especially when they contacted you first.
• Pressure. “Offer expires in one hour”, “last chance”, “approved, just pay now”.
• Payment to a personal account, an e-wallet, airtime or vouchers.
• A look-alike website or email. An extra word or letter in the address, or a free email address instead of the company’s own domain.
• Requests for your PIN, password or one-time PIN, or photos of your bank card.
• An offer to keep your ID or bank card “as security”. A lender may not do this.

What these messages usually look like

The wording changes, but the pattern rarely does. These are typical of the messages people report, written out as examples rather than copied from real ones:

• “Congratulations, your loan of R15 000 has been approved. Pay R450 for insurance and the money is released within an hour.”
• “We are an NCR registered lender. Send a copy of your ID and the OTP we just sent you to confirm your application.”
• “Your application is stuck at the bank. A once-off legal fee of R299 clears it today.”

Each one tries to get money or a security code from you before anything has been assessed. A real approval comes after an application, with a written quote that you can read before you sign, and the payout comes first. Nothing you pay before that point will ever turn into a loan.

A six-point check before you reply

1. Did you contact them first? An unexpected loan offer is a reason for more care, not less.
2. Are they on the NCR register? Search the name and the NCRCP number, and check both match.
3. Is it the official website? Type the address yourself rather than tapping a link in a message.
4. Are they asking for money before payout? If yes, stop there.
5. Are they asking for a PIN, password or OTP? If yes, stop there.
6. Can you call them back on a number listed on their official website, not the one in the message?

How to check a lender on the NCR register

Every credit provider in South Africa must be registered with the National Credit Regulator. Open the NCR register of credit providers and search for the company name or its NCRCP number. Compare the legal name, the trading name and the registration status with what the lender shows you.

Two cautions. Registration is not a recommendation: it means the company is registered, not that its loans are good value. And scammers sometimes copy a real lender’s name and NCRCP number. So match the contact details too, using the lender’s own website that you typed in yourself. Our registration details are on one page with a link to the register.

What RandLeaf will never do

• Ask you to pay anything before a loan is paid out
• Ask you to tell anyone your PIN, password or a one-time PIN, by phone, chat or email
• Ask you to pay into a personal bank account, an e-wallet or with airtime or vouchers
• Promise approval before assessing your application
• Contact you only through WhatsApp from an unknown number
• Keep your ID document or bank card

Our website is randleaf.co.za. Applications are made only on our application service at application address not yet published. Our phone, email and support hours are not yet published. For more on how we contact customers, see security and fraud.

If you think you’ve been caught

1. Call your bank’s fraud line now. Use the number on the back of your card or in your banking app, and ask them to block anything suspicious.
2. Change your banking password and PIN if you shared them or typed them into a strange site.
3. Report it to the South African Police Service and ask for a case number. Your bank may ask for it.
4. Keep the evidence: screenshots of messages, numbers, payment references and website addresses.
5. Tell the real lender if someone used its name, so it can warn other customers. If it was RandLeaf, contact us through the details on our website.
6. Report an unregistered lender to the National Credit Regulator.

Be wary of anyone who then offers to “recover” your money for a fee. That is often the same scam, round two. The banking industry’s risk centre, SABRIC, publishes current fraud warnings.