Several people have recently been scammed via Whatsapp by an unknown person that hacks into their friends or family’s Whatsapp accounts.
This person then send messages to their contacts stating that he/she lost their bank card and that they urgently need to borrow R1 500 and that they would repay them the following day.
This happened to one of the residents of eMalahleni, Mrs Chriselda Magwasa.
A message from Mrs Magwaza’s friend explaining what had happened and she had almost been scammed.
“My phone was hacked and some of my contacts received messages from my Whatsapp asking for money,” she explained.
“It wasn’t me that sent those messages.”
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The exact message that was sent from Mrs Magwasa’s number stated: “Hi, I lost my bank card. Please send me R1 500 via E-wallet or Money Market. I will pay you back tomorrow.”
It is alleged that the number that the money must be sent to is an unknown number, not the number of your friend or relative.
The scammer will send a second message in which he gives you a number where the money should be paid to.
If anyone received a code from an unknown number on Whatsapp, they should immediately delete the message and not respond to it because that is how the scammers hack your account.
Another woman from Mthwalume also got scammed by these hackers and paid an amount of R1 300 into the scammers account.
As soon as she realized that she was scammed, she opened a case at the Hibberdene Police Station. The police official acknowledged that they are aware of this scam and that it is an ongoing problem.
The woman then went to the bank to trace where the money had been withdrawn, and it was confirmed that the money was withdrawn in Mpumalanga province.
A message from Mrs Magwaza’s friend explaining what had happened and she had almost been scammed.
Chances that these women were scammed by the same scammers are not impossible.
The public is advised to take note of the number 072 995 0163 – the scammers use this number for E-wallet transactions.
Service providers gave some advice as to what you should do if you suspect that your number has been hacked.
“Please take note, if your phone number has been ‘hacked’ it will show ‘NO SERVICE’. Your number will be used by the hackers to send messages requesting your contacts to send them money via E-wallet or Money Market. The number will no longer be in your control. Please do not deposit money, it is a scam. Instead if you suspect that you are hacked, do a sim swap immediately at your nearest branch and communicate to all your contacts using a different number.”
