New scams the community should not fall for
The Krugersdorp Police said that Good Samaritans are normally victims of these ruthless criminals and unfortunately woman are more prone to be targeted.
The Krugersdorp and Kagiso Police have noticed that an alarming trend of email and cellphone scams has been reported over the last few days.
The News decided to investigate the claims because one of its journalists had received such an email.
The person who sent the email claimed that he had misplaced his luggage on a ship in the Durban harbour and needed someone to courier it to him. In the email he claimed that the luggage contained $3,8 million from an alleged family treasure.
He said that his father had been assassinated and he needed the money. He also said he had arranged with the ship’s captain to keep the luggage until it could be couriered.
The News wanted to find out more, and decided to play along. The journalist replied to the email asking where the man was from and where the package would be delivered to if it were couriered.
To our great surprise, the alleged ship’s captain contacted the journalist the next day by calling the cellphone number that was in the logo at the bottom of the email.
What stood out to us was that the man who claimed to be the captain of the ship spoke Afrikaans, yet the man who claimed to have misplaced his luggage clearly stated that he was from Angola.
The captain, who identified himself as Captain Ali, asked for the journalist’s address and US$1 500 to cover the courier costs. The journalist asked whether she could have a few hours to ask the bank’s permission to transfer funds, but the captain rushed her, saying that the ship was leaving soon.
The News then contacted the bank where the captain had claimed he had an account, and discovered it was a bogus account.
However, the captain remained persistent, contacting the journalist more than seven times over two days. Then the Angolan man contacted the journalist again. He spoke with a Portuguese accent and wanted the money to be transferred right away. When the journalist asked why, he said the ship was about to leave the harbour and he needed the money.
The News then contacted Durban Harbour and discovered that there was no Captain Ali.
When the journalist called the Angolan man’s number (073 519 2523), it had been cancelled. The email address the News had received the emails from was nico.agenbag@hotmail.com.
The Krugersdorp Police said that Good Samaritans are normally victims of these ruthless criminals and unfortunately women are more prone to be targeted. They warned that emails and Facebook messages are sent asking for money to be paid into an account as the writer is in dire trouble. This person then promises to pay back the funds with interest. “It is recommended that emails and Facebook messages of this nature be deleted immediately,” said Captain Appel Ernst, the spokesperson for the West Rand Cluster Police.
“Never pay funds into any account,” she went on, “since the criminals may also hack your account. Remember that anything that sounds to good to be true, is not true and if you did not enter a competition, you cannot be a winner. If you have to pay to access your winnings, you are not a winner, you are surely a loser.”
By contrast, the Kagiso Police have uncovered SMS scammers targeting community members.
One complainant reported to the police that he had allegedly received an SMS from the number 27+8200703521621. The SMS claimed that the complainant’s details showed that he had changed his usual number to a new number from a rival network company. The message further advised him to call the new network company for clarity. A few minutes later the complainant received another message from the unknown number confirming that his request to change to a new network company had been approved. On the following day, the complainant went to his bank to withdraw cash from an outside ATM. He then discovered his card had been cancelled and decided to go into the bank to enquire. He was shocked to learn that his account had been closed after the bank had noticed that someone was using his account to purchase airtime.
The latest report has similar characteristics – on Tuesday, 21 March, another complainant allegedly received a call from someone who identified himself as a consultant from one of the well-known network companies. He informed the complainant that someone had requested a SIM swap on his cellphone number. The caller then requested the complainant to verify his personal details to determine if he was the rightful owner of the number. The complainant went ahead, and confirmed his personal details. He later noticed that MTN prepaid airtime worth R500 was purchased through his bank account. The transactions showed that the bogus consultant had not only used the complainant’s details to purchase airtime – he had also used it at a hotel in Pretoria.
Captain Solomon Sibiya, the spokesman for the Kagiso Police said, “As soon as you receive such a message, please contact your bank immediately and visit the branch to apply for a new card.” The News echoes these sentiments, and is appealing to members of the public to be more vigilant and cautious about giving their personal details to bogus professionals pretending to be representing well-known companies. Always keep in mind that your personal details including bank details are solely yours and therefore should never be shared with anyone else, especially not on the phone.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at krugersdorpnews@caxton.co.za or phone us on 011 955 1130.
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