NCR warns indebted South Africans of scams
With the current economic climate forcing some to reconfigure their debt to ease the pressure, the National Credit Regulator is warning consumers not to fall prey to scams.
It says there are parties posing as debt counsellors offering to consolidate the debt of desperate consumers.
The regulator's Mmadikwa Phoshoko says some of the victims find out later that they've unknowingly signed for debt review.
She says it puts them further in a sticky situation.
"Once you apply for debt review as a consumer, you don't have access to credit, so that credit card and being able to swipe when you short during the month you are not going to have access to it and secondly until that debt counsellor rejects your application or until it goes to court and the magistrate rejects the finding of the debt councillor, it finding you over-indebted then you are actually under debt review until you have paid off all the debt."
Phoshoko says there are some tell-tale signs of when you're being set up for a possible scam.
"Nobody can just contact you out of the blue and tell you they can assist you. We always advise consumers to make sure that you are the one who approaches a debt counsellor that you are comfortable with.
“So we would normally advise consumers to do a debt counsellor's office. The debt counsellors have an NCR sticker on their entrants which basically show that they are registered."
