Omo scam claims yet another victim

OMO scammers are still at it, so beware.

With times becoming tougher as prices for food and other essentials continue to soar, many people are doing their best to earn a little extra here and there, and sadly in some cases this is at the cost of others.

Scams are part of the cons that came with the innovative digital world, and although warnings have been sent out countless times, many people still fall into these awful snares.

One such person is Phumzile Zwane from the KwaNgenetsheni area just outside of Vryheid.

Zwane who is from a family of 12 (with 5 unemployed adults and 3 children still in school), and her mother Busisiwe Mdluli thought they had hit the jackpot and that all their worries were over when they received an sms saying they had won R250 000 from an OMO competition.

“We were very excited and contacted the number provided at the end of the sms immediately,” said Phumzile.

The mother and daughter were answered by a particular woman who instructed them that they needed to deposit a certain amount of money to a provided bank account number in order for their winnings to be transferred as soon as possible.

Completely oblivious to the fact that they were being conned, the two set out to borrow the money from neighbours and loan sharks in their area believing that they would pay it back when they received the R250 000.

After a full week of paying ‘marginal fluctuation charges’, and ‘service fees’ the amount of money Phumzile and her mother paid had amounted to R7000 and still there was not even a glimpse of the big fish they were hoping to reel in.

This is when Phumzile decided to Google more information about this particular competition and she happened to stumble upon an article on the Vryheid Herald’s website warning locals about this very scam (see ‘Omo scam will clean you out’ on www.vryheidherald.co.za).

It became clear to Phumzile that they had been conned and she then headed to the local police station to open a case but to no avail.

“It is very difficult for us to track these people down as they change their names and contact details all the time. This is why we have sent out countless warnings to community members regarding these scams,” she was told.

“Our call centre is still being inundated with calls from victims of the scam, consumers are urged to be vigilant at all times and are encouraged not to act on receipt of such smses,” said Unilever SA’s Marketing Director for Laundry, Shaadia Vawda.

Another Article you might want to read:Warning Omo Scam will clean you out.

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