This article applies to hiring a private investigator in South Africa
We have been receiving a large number of complaints from people who have been scammed by fake private investigators. Many of these have been found online via Gumtree etc. The reason people have given for hiring these fraudsters was that their rates are far cheaper than legitimate registered private investigators. Many of the complaints involve paying money upfront and never seeing the person again, blackmailing the client that they will tell the person being investigated that they are being investigated and going to the person being investigated and offering them the information about them being investigated for a fee.
The scams sometimes involve large sums of money, we have seen amounts in excess of R50,000.
The first and most important reason to only hire a registered private investigator for you, the client, is that South African legislation, PRIVATE SECURITY INDUSTRY REGULATION ACT, 2001 and the accompanying PRIVATE SECURITY INDUSTRY REGULATIONS, 2002, makes it a violation of the law to hire a private investigator that is not registered as a private investigator with the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority, (PSiRA) with a prison sentence of up to two years. The same penalty applies to a person providing services as a private investigator without being registered with PSiRA.
They must be registered as a private investigator.
By being registered with PSiRA the private investigator has to comply with a strict code of conduct, and it gives you, the client, recourse and assistance if you have a problem with the private investigator or the services they provided.
To be registered as a private investigator in South Africa you have to take a course at Unisa or some similar approved institution, these courses usually run a year or more. If you have prior experience as a private investigator or police officer to can apply for prior experience credit. You also have to submit a complete set of fingerprints which are submitted to the police for a background criminal check.
Tips to consider when hiring a private investigator. Following these simple guidelines will help you hire an investigator or agency or company that provides quality service.
Consequences of hiring an unlicensed/unregistered private investigator
A few of the consequences that can arise from hiring an unlicensed/unregistered private investigator are;
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