THE latest scam doing the rounds sees unsuspecting cellphone owners receiving an sms or e-mail notification that they have won money from Omo washing powder. They are prompted to claim their prize using the reference and contact numbers provided. To redeem their winnings, consumers are requested to furnish their banking details and to deposit money into an account to secure their prize.
Unilever SA’s marketing director for laundry, Shaadia Vawda said that its call centre has been 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. Unilever takes such scams seriously and thorough investigations are being conducted to ensure that perpetrators face the full might of the law. We will never request consumers to deposit money after winning a competition or require a winner to send banking details via sms,” said Ms Vawda.
She said that in the case of any competitions run by Unilever, all winners will be contacted by Unilever representatives individually and winners will not be expected to pay any administration or transactional fees. Omo has given away prizes over the years to the value of more than R20 million without ever asking for money in return.
