Search for “SRD status” and you will find dozens of sites that look official, use SASSA’s colours and ask for your ID number. Most are not SASSA. In 2025 alone SASSA identified more than 150 fake websites and had about 70 of them taken down. Some only want advertising clicks; others harvest ID numbers, phone numbers and banking details that can be used to hijack a grant. Here is how to tell the genuine SRD check from a copy, and what to do if you have already been caught.
The only addresses SASSA uses
- srd.sassa.gov.za: SRD applications, status, bank details and contact updates.
- srd.dsd.gov.za: SRD appeals, run by the Department of Social Development’s appeals tribunal.
- services.sassa.gov.za: online applications for other grants and e-Life certification.
- www.sassa.gov.za: SASSA’s main website.
- WhatsApp 082 054 0016 and the toll-free line 0800 60 10 11. Our pages on the official SASSA WhatsApp number and on checking SASSA status by phone explain what each can do.
One genuine address on that list does not contain “sassa” at all. Appeals against a declined SRD month are heard by an independent tribunal housed in the Department of Social Development, not by SASSA, which is why the appeal form sits on srd.dsd.gov.za and the SRD portal points you there. A link to that exact address is genuine; a site that merely mentions DSD in its name or page text is not.
Check the address before you type your ID number
Look at the address bar, not the logo on the page. Read the web address from the right-hand end, back to the first single slash. A real SASSA address finishes with sassa.gov.za (or dsd.gov.za for appeals), with nothing after “za” except a slash and a page name. Words in front, such as “srd.”, are fine; words after are not.
- srd.sassa.gov.za/sc19/status: genuine.
- srd-sassa.org.za: fake. SASSA has named this one publicly; “.org.za” is not government.
- srdsassagov.co.za: fake, also named by SASSA. “gov” squeezed into the name does not make it a gov.za site.
- Anything ending in .com, .co.za, .net, .online or .site that calls itself a “SASSA status” or “SRD check” site: not SASSA, however helpful it looks.
The safest habit is to type srd.sassa.gov.za yourself every time instead of tapping links in messages, adverts or search results. Once you are on the real site, the step-by-step SRD status check takes it from there.
Tricks fraudsters use on SRD applicants
Money is the quickest giveaway. Applying for the SRD and checking its status are both free, so anyone who wants cash, airtime or a “processing fee” to check a result or speed up an approval is not acting for SASSA. The same goes for “helpers” outside offices or online who offer to apply or change your cellphone number for you: once they hold your phone or a one-time PIN, they can redirect your grant. Other tricks are less obvious:
- WhatsApp impostors. A message from an unknown number with a SASSA logo, asking you to “confirm” your ID, bank details or PIN. SASSA says it never asks for personal details through social media or unofficial websites.
- Fake verification links. SASSA does send genuine SMS links for facial verification, which is exactly why fakes copy them. Our page on spotting a genuine biometric SMS link covers this.
- Look-alike social media pages. SASSA’s real accounts are OfficialSASSA on Facebook and X, official_sassa on Instagram and SASSATV on YouTube.
Already gave your details to a fake site?
Act on the same day rather than waiting to see whether anything goes wrong. A fake status check does nothing to your application by itself; the risk lies in what the operator can try next with your ID number, cellphone number and banking details, such as changing the contact or payment details on your SRD record. Work through these steps in order:
- If you entered bank details, a card number or a PIN, call your bank straight away and ask it to block the card or watch the account.
- On the real srd.sassa.gov.za, run a status check and confirm that your payment details and cellphone number are still yours. A changed bank account or number is a red flag.
- Tell SASSA what happened by calling its toll-free line, 0800 60 10 11, so the agency can note your file.
- Report the fraud to the National Anti-Corruption Hotline on 0800 701 701, which SASSA lists for grant fraud, and open a case at a police station if money was taken.