Durban North SAPS warns of fraud cases involving deposits

DURBAN North police have warned businesses to confirm bank account details before depositing large sums of money for services rendered.

Captain Raymond Deokaran, spokesperson for the station said that in recent weeks, three cases of fraudulent activity targeting businesses had been opened at the station where the fraudsters changed the banking details of legitimate businesses. 

“The ‘company’ or fraudster who has intercepted emails or correspondence send invoice details to the victims and changed the account details to funnel the money into their account instead of the legitimate businesses rendered the services. The fraudsters often purport to represent the company.

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“In one of the cases, a local company was sent a message to deposit money for its purchase of mining equipment. The company allegedly deposited R159 000 and only later realised the banking details sent were different to the legitimate company selling the equipment. We are urging businesses to verify company details before depositing large sums of money,” he said.

Deokaran added another cases involving a R390 000 deposit into what the victim thought was the solar panel company he was dealing with.

“We also make the appeal that staff handling payments should be educated about these types of scams. We are also urging businesses to ensure the account details being used are correct through verification,” Deokaran said.