Police warn of tender scam

DURBAN North SAPS has warned businesses and prospective bidders to be vigilant about a scam tender advertisement. So far the station has recorded four cases where businesses and individuals have been scammed out of R210 000 collectively. The modus operandi involves false adverts asking for tenders for the supply of goods worth thousands of rand, but the scammers have also used a dummy supply company where unwitting bidders deposit money to make the scam ‘waterproof’.

Lt Gopaul Naidoo, station commander at the Durban North SAPS urged businesses to do background checks on companies before depositing money into any account.

“One of the scam cases required a tender for a camera lens and when the individual looked for the specific lens, he found a supply company, which was not registered as a business but was part of the scammers network. He deposited money into the account only to find that it had never existed in the first place. Although the advert looks legitimate, businesses need to be vigilant when it comes to submitting tenders. We’ve had various complaints of victims who have been duped into parting with huge amounts of money,” he said

Prospective suppliers are subsequently required to deposit money into fake accounts to the ‘manufacturers’ of the advertised goods.

He said the victims only became aware of the scam once they ask for payment from the department.

“The items in the tender process are also not readily available or easily accessible and that’s where the scammers make use of a fake supplying company.”

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