Police warn against tender fraud scam
Fraudsters make contact with small business owners and mislead then into believing that they have been awarded tenders from government departments.
KwaZulu-Natal police are urging the public to not to fall victim of tender fraud scams.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Nqobile Gwala, said a trend has been detected where fraudsters would make contact with small business owners and mislead then into believing that they have been awarded tenders from government departments.
Gwala said fraudulent letter heads and email addresses are used to request these businesses to supply a specific product or unusual product.
To source the products, added Gwala, the small business owners would search on internet and identify a specific supplier who is also part of the scam. “After paying an amount of cash to the alleged supplier to order the items, the victims realised that they were scammed. The scam has been in existence 2015 and slowed down by 2020 after previous warnings from police. Approximately, 68 cases were reported where the suspects have reverted to using the same modus operandi,” said Gwala.
She added that in a case that was reported in 2016 at Richards Bay, the complainant alleged that in September he received a quotation from one of the government departments.
Gwala said in a letter, they requested 100 dyroc cylinder gases, adding that after the money was deposited to the supplier, he realised that it was a scam.
“These scammers are targeting desperate small business owners who are still cementing their feet in their industries. We are appealing to community members to be aware of these ongoing scams and verify with the relevant governments department if they receive such requests,” said Gwala.
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