SkoolRunStay safe from scams
Scammers target parents, drivers and transport businesses with fake bank details, fake jobs and fake messages. Here is how to protect yourself, and what to do if something feels wrong.
Check before you pay
Got bank details or a phone number by WhatsApp, SMS or email? Check them here first.
How SkoolRun contacts you
- SkoolRun never asks for your password, your login code, your PIN or a copy of your ID by WhatsApp, SMS or phone.
- SkoolRun never asks you to pay into a different bank account. Invoices in the SkoolRun app always show the business’s real account.
- Our emails come from @skoolrun.co.za and our website is skoolrun.co.za. Check the address before you click.
- A login code is only for signing in yourself. Anyone who asks you to read it back to them is trying to take over your account.
Parents
- Only pay into the account on your SkoolRun invoice. If you get “new bank details” by WhatsApp or SMS, even from a number you know, do not pay. Check them above.
- When a business changes its bank account, SkoolRun waits 48 hours and tells you in the app. A sudden, urgent request to pay somewhere new is a warning sign.
- Pay online with the Pay now button on your invoice where you can: the money goes straight to the business’s verified account.
- Prefer verified businesses (green badge). Never pay a large “registration fee” or deposit to a business you have not met or checked.
Drivers
- Genuine employers never ask you to pay to get a job: no registration, training, uniform, PrDP or “placement” fees. SkoolRun refuses job ads that ask for money.
- Check that the business is verified before you send documents. Only upload your ID and licence inside the SkoolRun app, never by WhatsApp to a stranger.
- An interview is never a reason to send airtime, an eWallet or cash.
Transport businesses
- Only record a payment when you see the money in your bank account. Proof-of-payment screenshots and SMS messages are easy to fake, and EFTs can take up to two days.
- If a parent “overpays” and asks you to send back the difference, wait until the full amount has cleared. This is a common scam.
- If you get an SMS or email saying your bank details changed and it was not you, use the cancel link straight away and change your password.
- Online payments in SkoolRun are marked “Paid online · confirmed by the bank”. Those are real.
Report a scam
Tell us about anyone who asked you for money, codes or documents in a suspicious way. Our team checks every report, and accounts and bank details used by scammers are blocked across SkoolRun.
Lost money? Call your bank’s fraud line straight away, then open a case at your nearest police station (SAPS). Keep the messages and payment details.