Police warned the public that they would follow through on any online fraud cases.
This comes as the police have experienced a growing number of cases where the complainant withdraws the case after a lead or arrest has been made. Fairland Police Station Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Clive de Freitas shared details of the latest trend that was wasting their time and resources. He said people were opening online fraud cases with no intention to go to court and testifying if an arrest was made.
De Freitas warned the public that they would ensure all cases opened for online fraud would be followed up on and complainants would be expected to participate in the process. “If you are going to come forward and open these kinds of cases, we are going to investigate, we are going to make arrests and we are going to court.”
According to the station commander, the number of online fraud cases increased by one to a total of nine for November compared to November 2019. “The type of fraud taking place can be avoided. It’s this thing of going onto the Internet, seeing a puppy and paying a R2 000 deposit then there’s no puppy and no money.” He urged members of the public to be more cautious with online shopping as this type of fraud had become more common than large scale fraud in recent weeks.
The station offered a few safety tips in an attempt to reduce the chance of the public falling victim to fraud:
- People are urged not to pay for anything sold online if they don’t have solid proof that it’s not a scam.
- Phone the person who is responsible for the advert and ask if you can see the product first before any money is exchanged.
- The public is advised to rather follow a ‘cash on delivery’ ideology when it comes to purchasing goods online.
- The exchange of money for goods should take place in a safe public place such as a police station.
- Property for rent needs to be verified by visiting the property before any payments or contracts are signed.
