IEC warns of social media job scam

With preparations for a number of ward by-elections underway and local government elections coming next year, crooks are attempting to grab the opportunity to initiate online scams.

This as the Electoral Commission of South Africa is hit by a scam in which fraudsters use an online job advertisement to trick unsuspecting people to part ways with their personal information. It’s believed that the information could be used in nefarious schemes known only to the scammers.

The IEC on Wednesday warned the public about the scam involving online job advertisement in the name of the Commission to obtain personal information from unsuspecting job seekers. The scam has been circulating on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.

The advert stated that an ‘Election Committee’ has announced 50,000 vacancies for young people. The message went on to ask people to submit their personal information in order to complete the application process.

The culprits gave themselves out when they used an email address and logo that were not the Commission’s address and logo. According to the Commission, however, unsuspecting job seekers may easily mistake the advert as legitimate and fall for the scam.

The Commission had distanced itself from the advertisement saying it was not a legitimate advert. People were alerted to the fact that all IEC job and vacancies notices were only advertised on the Commission’s official website www.elections.org.za.

Presently, the IEC was preparing for local ward by-elections to be held in a various parts of the country on 11 November. The commission was also looking to intensify its preparations for the Local government elections to be held sometime next year.

ericn@citizen.co.za

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.