DOZENS of women, in desperate need of work, have been scammed out of hundreds of Rands with the promise of a cleaning position at a Durban-based non-profit organisation. The NPO was only made aware of the scam when the first group of women arrived to start their first day of work.
The founder of Vukukhanye, Kate Van Der Meulen, said people have arrived at her home address in Westville since the beginning of July. Each of the women said they received an SMS to say they were hired as a cleaner at the children’s home in Chesterville and were to report at her address at a specific time and day.
“They were asked to wear smart clothes for the first day. The salary they were offered is R6 500 per month. All of the communication was done via SMS and were told they needed to make a payment of R170 via a PEP store transfer and fax a copy of their ID to a phone number that is linked to a bed and breakfast in Westville,” said Van Der Meulen.
“Three groups of more than eight people have arrived at my gate. I have also received more than 30 phone calls from applicants. I urge them not to make any payments, as there are no positions available at the children’s home and it is a scam,” said Van Der Meulen
An applicant forwarded her some of the SMSes that state the money would be used to buy a work uniform.
“The number for the scamster is no longer available on the day they arrive at my house,” said Van Der Meulen. “We are not hiring and we would never hire someone without a formal job interview. Please, do not pay money into an account if you are looking for a job.”
She has urged each of the women to open cases at the local SAPS. No cases have been opened.
ALSO READ: Did you know all police stations must accept crime reports?
KZN SAPS spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Thulani Zwane, said, “Citizens are reminded that should they come across such scams or illegal employment activities, they are duty bound to report these incidents to police,” said Zwane.
PEP’s communications manager, Mariki Schwiebus, said, “This is not a PEP bank account, but a unique withdrawal number allocated to a person doing a money transfer using the ABSA banking platform. PEP has “visibility” of the sender as we scan the sender’s ID, but they choose a pin to go with the unique withdrawal number.
The sender then sends this detail to the person doing the withdrawal – in this instance the fraudster. The withdrawal can happen at any time and at a number of outlets (PEP, ABSA ATMs, Shoprite/Checkers/USave).
If a person has the unique withdrawal number and the pin chosen by the sender, they can do a withdrawal. We would strongly urge these women to open criminal cases at the police station.”
ABSA did not respond to questions by the time of publication.
Do you want to receive alerts regarding this and other Highway community news via Telegram? Send us a Telegram message (not an SMS) with your name and surname (ONLY) to 060 532 5409.
You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Telegram number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts.
Here’s where you can download Telegram on Android or Apple.
To receive our free newsletter click here.
