Sassa scam alert: No, gold cards are not for sale

The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has released an urgent notice on Tuesday, warning citizens of a “gold card” scam currently doing the rounds.

Sassa scam: Gold cards for sale

Several social media users have been spreading misinformation by calling on South Africans to apply for these gold cards.

The posts usually urge citizens to respond via WhatsApp.

According to the scammer, beneficiaries “will get R1,850 every month end for three years”, all for the bargain price of R2,500 for one card.

Sassa confirms: Cards not for sale

Sassa says cards are not for sale and it has called on South Africans to report misinformation and related crimes to the authorities.

ALSO READ: Four Eastern Cape men arrested for allegedly defrauding Sassa of R2 million

Fake food parcel vouchers

Another scam made headlines recently when fraudsters invited Sassa beneficiaries to apply for “free social relief food parcel vouchers”. Sassa warned:

The information is fake and does NOT come from Sassa.

If users clicked on the link, they would have likely been taken to a phishing site. The fraudulent webpage has since been taken down.

Clothes voucher scam

Scams targeting beneficiaries have become prevalent of late.

Back in October, Sassa also warned against a post inviting beneficiaries to take their Sassa card and ID document to their nearest PEP store.

Beneficiaries were told they would be able to apply for “kids clothes vouchers before 4 November”. This too, Sassa confirmed, was a scam.

Compiled by Cheryl Kahla.