Multiple types of scams have been carried out in the name of the City of Ekurhuleni in the past few months.
The City has been inundated with complaints from unsuspecting victims who have been defrauded of their hard-earned cash. To date, more than 20 people have been defrauded of over R2-million through these scams, said Themba Gadebe, spokesperson for the metro.
The most popular scam is one that is formulated around a fake tender for waste wheelie bins.
The perpetrators of this criminal act send possible service providers an appointment letter bearing the City’s logo, together with a fraudulently generated order number purported to come from the City. Service providers are thereafter requested to deposit a certain amount of money and they are told to deliver the 260-litre wheelie bins at 47 Van Buuren Road in Bedfordview.
In other scams, targeted victims are requested to participate in a tender for supply and delivery of electrical mobile metering devices for technicians. Ratepayers are also targeted by being issued with fake letters of water supply termination due to alleged meter tampering and subsequently requested to pay a “spot fine” for reconnection or retention of services.
Grant-in-aid applicants are requested to pay R2 500 to fast-track processing of their applications.
Job applicants have also been targeted to pay money for their applications to be processed.
Grant-in-aid applications are handled and processed free of charge and all job vacancies and applications are done online through the City’s website, www.ekurhuleni.gov.za
These pointers may assist to differentiate scammers from legit communication by the City:
• The name of the City is City of Ekurhuleni, not Ekurhuleni Municipality.
• Landlines in the City have the 999 prefix.
• The email address for staff is: person’sname.surname@ekurhuleni.gov.za and not XXX@ekurhuleni-gov.org or any other variation.
• The tender office of the City is not situated at 47 Van Buuren Road, Bedfordview.
The City urges companies and individuals to be very vigilant and to verify information on the website (www.ekurhuleni.gov.za).
To confirm the authenticity of quotations or tenders, contact details are available on the City’s website.
Bidders can contact Hannes.vSchalkwyk@ekurhuleni.gov.za or Siphokazi.Xokozela@ekurhuleni.gov.za
