South Africans warned of police recruitment scam

The Provincial Commissioner of Police in Limpopo, Lieutenant-General Thembi Hadebe, cautioned the public about fraudulent recruitment scams targeting aspiring police candidates.

Hadebe’s warning comes after messages were recently circulated on social media urging candidates who applied for police posts across the Waterberg District but were not called back to report to the Modimolle police station.

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Don’t fall victim to social media scammers

Hadebe appealed to communities to exercise caution and not become victims of social media scammers.

“We once again make an urgent appeal to the community that scammers are posing as South African Police Service (Saps) recruiters. Furthermore, genuine recruitment processes do not involve financial transactions,” he said.

Citizens are urged to verify communications through official channels to prevent falling victim to scams. Report any suspicious activity to the local police call the Crime Stop toll-free number 0860010111 or share anonymous tip-off on the MySAPS app.

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Money for police college accessories

This is not the first scam of the year involving police.

Earlier this year, Saps cautioned all applicants who participated in the recruitment and selection process for the Basic Police Learning Development Programme (BPLDP) about a hoax message that demanded applicants pay for “college accessories”.

National police spokesperson, Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, said the hoax message demanded that each applicant pay R200 towards college accessories.

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Mathe added that successful candidates will not be required to pay any amount of money towards entry-level police training.

“The Saps covers all training costs inclusive of transportation to the training academies and also makes provision for all equipment and uniform that is required during training.”