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Reserve Bank goes after illegal money schemes

New Reserve Bank campaign aims to give South Africans practical tips to check whether they are being scammed.

THE South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has launched a national campaign aimed at raising public awareness of illegal deposit-taking schemes and advance-fee schemes. Launched on Tuesday under the theme ‘Easy Come. Easy Go’, the campaign aims to give South Africans practical tips to check whether they are being scammed.

It also encourages the public to exercise extra caution when choosing potential investment opportunities.

“Easy Come. Easy Go draws on the old adage that if a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is. One of the responsibilities of the SARB is the prudential supervision of banks. The Banks Act prescribes that only registered banks can take deposits from the general public and it is an offence for unregistered persons to conduct the business of a bank,” said governor Lesetja Kganyago.

Last year alone, the bank investigated 41 illegal deposit-taking schemes. Twenty-eight of these are from previous years, while 13 are new schemes. The SARB is investigating 19 suspected illegal deposit-taking schemes. Over 5 000 advance-fee scams have been reported to the SARB in the past five years.

The central bank said illegal deposit-taking schemes take a number of forms and varying degrees of inventiveness, including Ponzi, pyramid, and related schemes.

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