LOCAL private investigator, Rick Crouch, has issued a warning of a new scam targeting businesses which is becoming more prevalent.
According to Crouch, the modus operandi is that the scammer will approach a small business that is registered on the KwaZulu-Natal government database for vendors.
“They will request a non-existent item, such as a special light bulb that does not exist. They will then set up a website that shows them as the sole supplier or manufacturer of this non-existent item, so when the victim conducts a Google search for the item they only find this one website,” said Crouch.
He said the victim then purchases hundreds of thousands of Rands worth of this non-existent product from the non-existent company in order to comply with the non-existent tender. Once the EFT payment has been made the website is taken down and the fraudsters disappear.
“If you receive such a solicitation please call the government department concerned and verify that the tender is valid. If you have been a victim of this scam or have been received a similar tender offer please contact us as we are working on three such cases at this time and are attempting to link all these cases,” said Crouch.
Contact him on info@rickcrouch.co.za or 031 764 1321.
