A person claiming to be from the Indian consulate in Pretoria is trying to scam South Africans by alleging they are linked to the recent attacks in Kashmir
South African Indians and Muslims have been urged to be wary and take precautions against scammers purporting to be from the Indian Consulate in Pretoria who are using the recent war between India and Pakistan over Indian-administered Kashmir to extort money.
This writer was contacted last week by a person claiming to be from the Indian consulate in Pretoria about the attacks in Kashmir on 22 April, which killed 26 people.
Allegations
India blamed the attack on Pakistan, which ignited a conflict between the two countries.
During the call last week, the person claimed that this writer had registered a telephone number in India and that his South African mobile number was listed as an alternate contact.
“The number you registered in India is linked to the recent attack in Kashmir, and I have to ask you questions if you registered it.”
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The caller asked a series of questions, including recent travel information and enquiries about identity documents and passports.
Scammers
Potential scammers are taking advantage of South Africans and people across the globe with telephone calls from call centres originating from India to extort computer IP addresses. They then use this to fleece people of their money.
An attorney told The Citizen that if the call was legit, the individual should email the copies of the document so that the allegations could be verified.
The Citizen contacted the Indian consulate in Pretoria and was told that embassy officials would not contact people using a mobile number.
Fraud and extortion
The official said the Indian consulate had issued an alert about people of Indian origin in South Africa being targeted by scammers.
“We have been informed that some criminal and anti-social persons are attempting to spoof the Consulate General’s telephone numbers to call persons of Indian origin to threaten them with legal or other consequences and demand money purportedly on behalf of the Consulate General or Government of India agencies.
“Please be assured that no one from the Consulate General will be calling members of the public over the telephone to demand money for government purposes. Please report any such calls that you receive to your local police after noting the number and any details that the callers leave with you,” the Indian Consulate said.
The Citizen tried calling the person who made the allegations, but the number was “unavailable” and switched off.
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