Crypto scams in South Africa
These are the patterns currently costing people money in South Africa. Supervision sits with the FSCA. Nothing below promises recovery, because recovery is usually impossible - the point is to recognise the pattern before you pay.
What is actually happening here
- Unlicensed 'portfolio managers' promising fixed monthly returns. Crypto financial services need an FSP licence - check the register before paying anyone.
- Instant-EFT confirmation pages that are actually phishing replicas of your bank's login.
- Recovery scams targeting people who already lost money, charging an upfront fee to 'trace' the funds.
The tell, before the money moves
Every one of these needs you to move money outside a platform's own protection, and every one of them applies time pressure. If you feel rushed, that is the tell. A genuine platform never loses anything by your waiting a day.
Three rules that stop almost all of it
- Nobody legitimate will ever ask for your seed phrase or recovery words - not support, not a regulator, not the police.
- Type the platform's address by hand. Paid search ads are a standard delivery route for cloned sites.
- A guaranteed return does not exist in crypto. Nobody can guarantee a price they do not control.
If it already happened
Stop sending money immediately - the most common second loss is 'unlocking' the first. Keep every receipt, message and address; report it to the platform, to your bank, and to the police. Treat anyone who contacts you offering to recover the funds as a second scam, because that is what it almost always is.
FAQ
Someone contacted me first about an investment. Is that normal?
No. Real platforms do not open the conversation, and regulated firms do not cold-call with investment offers.
The platform shows my profits going up. Doesn't that prove it works?
No. A screen is only a screen. Fake platforms show rising balances and allow small withdrawals precisely to earn a bigger deposit.
Can I get my money back?
Usually not. On-chain transfers are final and P2P payments are hard to reverse. Report it anyway - it may help others - but treat recovery promises as a further scam.
Someone offered a better rate outside the exchange. Worth it?
No. Leaving the platform's escrow removes the only protection you had, and the discount is what pays for the loss.