*****ulent Debt Counseling

To clarify, this is for the Dept Help company based in Cape Town, as there is one with a similar name in JHB which has nothing to do with this company. I was led to believe this company is working for the government in order to help people with flexi-homeloans change to fixed homeloans. They had all my personal details, bank details, ID, etc. I asked the consultant more than once if this is not debt counseling because I don't want or need it, and he confirmed each time it's not. I was told that after confirming everything, a lady will reach out to confirm my email address so I can send my ID document and pay details. Right before she made contact, I received emails from a financial institution stating I had requested life insurance, which I was not aware of or even agreed to. When the lady made contact for the paperwork, she explained it's a normal procedure similar to when you take out a loan. I felt something was wrong, and I phoned my bank, who said the gentleman ****, they are a debt counseling firm, and I need to get it canceled as soon as possible. The company is not reachable at all. The phone tells you they experience high call volumes and cut out. When you Google the name for another number, you find a place in JHB with the same name, and they tell you straight that they get hundreds of calls from people thinking they are the same company, and they can tell you now you won't reach them. I phoned the life insurance company and asked them to cancel the policy, and they refused, saying only the party that initiated it in my name can do so. I sent an email to the lady who reached out for the documents and asked her to cancel the *****ulent agreement, and I didn't send my documents through. She didn't respond. I phoned the bank and they couldn't help from their side either. This all happened within the same day (hours from receiving the call).

I sent emails to NCR, whose name they are using to give reference codes, I emailed consumer rights, branches at the bank, and a whole bunch of companies and people whose names came up in documents that came in during the next couple of days. No one responded except NCR, saying they opened a ticket, and that was more than a week ago. Since then, they have taken off an amount close to the amount I pay per month for my house, but my house payment is still going off as per normal. I again phoned the bank to stop and reverse the payment, and they said they can't since it's from a debit check company. I spoke with the debt counseling department, and they said the money isn't even going towards the house payment, as they couldn't put it under review, as the house is in two people's names. I do have a small loan that I pay R550 a month, and some months I close it completely, etc (I use it as a "credit card" from time to time), so I asked her why they took that amount, and she said it's for legal costs. I don't know if they will even give anything towards the revolving load since I can't get a hold of anyone. They don't even need to pay it as I can pay it off if I want in three to four months.

Turns out that to remove this from my name, I need to present the bank with a letter from a magistrate to say I don't need the debt counseling. I phoned the magistrate, and they said I need to see an attorney to ask for an appointment with the magistrate. So effectively, this company is now putting me into debt review status with everything I now need to pay to get my name clean. How can it be so easy to lose complete control of your own money?