Fraudsters afflict local community
The community is warned to be very vigilant of such scams.
Scams have become rife in our community with more and more brazen opportunists defrauding unsuspecting people of their money.
Dundee SAPS Communications Officer, Captain Mbense, warns the community to be aware of these scams as they happen every year.
Fraudsters impersonate employees from a cellphone service provider, who then convince the victim that that their sim card is problematic and they require his/her identity number and personal details to rectify the problem.
The person is then told that while they are fixing the problem, the sim card will be out of order for a short amount of time.
At a later stage, the person finds that the cellphone has stopped working, cash has been withdrawn through banking transactions without their authority and sometimes small loans are taken on the persons name.
The community is warned to be very vigilant of such scams.
Fraudsters are reportedly also using ‘muti’ to scam people out of money.
The victim is approached by a person and is brushed on the shoulder or anywhere on your body.
Immediately, another person will approach the victim and tell them the person has rubbed muti on them and that means the money in your bank account or in your possession is unsafe.
You are told if you do not react quickly, your money will no longer be available to you.
The fraudster then offers you help to keep your money safe by suggesting you remove your money from the bank.
A ‘police friend’ accompanies you to the bank to withdraw the money and puts it in an envelope and closes it.
They tell you to open the envelope later at home which is filled with scrap papers.
You should never:
- Give personal information and private information, such as your bank account number and identity number, to strangers over the phone.
- Never disclose the amount of money in your possession or in your bank account.
- Never entrust your money to strangers who approach you on the street.
