My husband recently received an SMS from a tracing agency to say that there was an unclaimed benefit from his late father’s pension fund.
Our first reaction was that this must be a scam. His father had retired from the fund over 30 years ago. But the fact that the SMS contained specific information regarding the name of the company and retirement fund suggested that this was plausible.
My husband contacted the tracing agency and discovered that it is a legitimate claim. It is not a large amount of money and as his father had been paid out his pension benefit, it is most likely due to a recalculation of the surplus benefits.
The point, however, is that there could be unclaimed benefits that you don’t know about.
Ntombizethu Sibisi, Business Development Manager at Fairheads Financial Services, explains that there are legitimate tracing agencies that are used to help find the beneficiaries of unclaimed benefits held in retirement funds.
“If a retirement fund member dies, the fund has a duty to ensure that the benefits due to the dependants of that member are paid out. The retirement fund will try to find the family, but often it is quite difficult to do so, and these funds don’t have the relevant skills. This is where specialised tracing agents come into the picture,” says Sibisi.
As Southern Africa’s largest independent benefits administrator, Fairheads has had a standalone tracing department since 2019 which supplies tracing services to retirement funds.
Could that tracing agency be a scammer?
Because there are legitimate tracing agencies out there looking for beneficiaries, it is very easy for a scammer to pretend to be such an agent. This is especially true during tough economic times when a potential victim may be so enticed by the idea of receiving a windfall that they let their guard down.
Sibisi says tracing scammers will often persuade you to divulge your ID number and bank account details. They will then approach the retirement fund and pretend to be you, as a relative of the deceased retirement fund member. They will change your banking details and get the amount due to you paid to them instead.
Sibisi says having been burnt or knowing people who have been scammed naturally makes people suspicious when they get such a message. Yet there are some legitimate tracing companies in South Africa who are genuinely trying to trace you if there is money due to you from a relative who has died.
They have strong methods and systems to help trace people and they may phone you or send an SMS.
Here are ten tips to help you ascertain whether a tracing agency approach is legitimate:
1. Be alert if the SMS or email does not mention you by name.
2. Beware if the message contains only a cellphone number and comes from a gmail address.
3. Check that the SMS contains the name of the tracing company and is not simply an individual trying to contact you. The company should identify its name and encourage you to visit their website and call them on a landline number. Visit their website to see if they genuinely exist and are reputable.
4. Scammers will often not know the company where your relative worked, nor will they know what date he or she passed away, the position they held and the dates of employment. A genuine tracing company will generally have this information but they may not discuss this with you until you have made your own checks. If you are still suspicious, the tracing company may even send you a letter from the fund or company where your family member worked.
5. Contact the deceased relative’s employer and speak to the HR department. Tell them that you have been contacted by someone saying you have an inheritance due to you. Then tell the HR department as much as you know, such as the date of death of your family member, and the dates of employment at the company. Ask the HR department if there are any unclaimed benefits due to you. They will make contact with the retirement fund to confirm.
6. Do not fill in ANY forms until you know you are dealing with a legitimate tracing agent.
7. A legitimate tracing company will never ask for your bank account details until all the proper checks have been made.
8. A legitimate tracing company will never ask you for an upfront tracing payment. Rather, if you are successfully traced, the retirement fund will deduct a tracing fee from the amount due to you.
9. If you are suspicious and do not return the call given in the SMS or email, a good tracing agent will keep a record of contact with you and follow up with you after a few weeks. This will give you some trust that you are dealing with a company that is serious.
10. Not many people know that there is also a large database on the website of the Financial Sector Conduct Authority. You can see if your name is on that list as a person who is owed unclaimed benefits. For GEPF members, you can visit the unclaimed benefits section of the GEPF website.
Good day I’m worry last year was submitted my documents fro email to cold Case tracing revonia till now no pay out was working for elco electrical construction what can u do to solf the problem I’m worry I hear from scammers what stealing people money let me know please
I see there are many complaints about Cold Case Tracing Rivonia. I suggest you contact Elco Electrical and ask who is handling their pension payments. Then ask that person whether they have employed Cold Case Tracing Rivonia to trace members
Good day, any comments on Cold Case Tracing Agency? Seems ‘legit’ but I have my doubts.
How can I see if a tracing company is legit? They don’t have a CK number or income tax number. I have the telephone number and PO box number but no physical address and they only have gmail accounts.
That does sound dodgy if you read the list of warning signs in the article. They should be able to provide you with extensive detail on the funds, who they were with etc.
Hi,
How can I see if a tracing company is legit? They don’t have a CK number or income tax number. I have telephone number and PO box number but no physical address and they only have gmail accounts.
sounds dodgy to me – they should be able to provide detailed information about the pension/company etc. If they can’t – its a scam
Hello pls… help I’m struggling to register
which website are you trying?
Hi. My father was an immigrant and worked here for almost 44 years not in government after he went on leave his contract was abruptly terminated stating that he was old,
They promised him his pension which was only paid for a few months and stopped. He died a pauper resulting in us his family suffering like hell.
He worked at number 85 Von Brandis street Jewish guild memorial and went to morning side country club where his Visa to return was refused.
As a result of the above and us being young in the then Rhodesia now Zimbabwe, he didn’t tell us whether he had any insurance or servings bank accounts.
Carl Chabata.
You can try the FSCA website mentioned in the article and input his ID number. There is a system called Astute that financial advisers use to find policies.