Ivory Park SAPS detectives are investigating a case of fraud after a local woman running a child care centre was duped into paying thousands of rand after she responded to people she thought were from the National Lottery.
According to the station’s spokesperson Captain Bernard Matimulane, in August 2018, the victim received a call from someone claiming to be from the National Lottery, allegedly telling her that the grant money she had applied for had been approved, and that she was due to receive more than R6-million in grants, subject to certain conditions
“They asked the woman to pay R20 000. Once she had paid, the same people requested additional money which the victim deposited into the given accounts. It was only after some time that the victim visited the address given to her that she eventually realised that she had been scammed and that the head office of the National Lottery was not in Pretoria to begin with,” said Matimulane.
Matimulane explained that they have registered a case of fraud and are investigating.
“Ivory Park police are warning the public about the increase in fraud incidents and are calling on people to exercise extreme care whenever they are dealing with strangers interested in their banking and cellphone details.”
“In many instances fraud is easy to pick up if one is careful,” said Colonel Baba Mpotoane, the acting station commander of the Ivory Park SAPS.
“To start with, if someone asks money in exchange for facilitating a service which is normally free, it is better to terminate the call immediately as this has all the hallmarks of a fraud, and should alert the authorities,” added Mpotoane.
He said applying for such money shouldn’t cost you money.
“The police are further concerned that many people will fall victims to these scams because many of the victims tend to keep their communication with strangers a secret. It is only when money, or any other property for that matter, has been lost, that people begin to speak about their experiences.
“One of the effective ways of saving oneself from the scams is never, under any circumstance, should one entertain strangers showing interest in financial and cellphone details,” added Mpotoane.
People should note the following:
A potential employer cannot ask you money for administration purposes; either you are hired for free or not;
A banking institution cannot ask for your personal information number, it’s yours and yours alone;
If you have genuinely won a prize in a competition you are not supposed to pay money to facilitate this or that.
