DUNDEE KZN: Now is the time to vaccinate ourselves against scammers and hoax messages

To vaccinate or not to vaccinate, that is the question!

With the vaccination drive now in its second phase, the question becomes a more important one. Currently South Africa is vaccinating residents 60 and above, following the first phase which saw healthcare workers get the jab.

With the looming threat of the third wave now very much a reality, many around the country wish they could get vaccinated sooner. Yet, there are still those who don’t trust the vaccine because of one simple reason; Hoax Messages.

Hoax Messages are not a new thing. They’ve been around for as long as humans started rumours. However, with the rise of social media, Hoax Messages can reach a wider audience with more devastating consequences.

Not sure what those are? Well, if you owned a Blackberry, you’d know that they started out with silly messages like ‘Message from Jim Balsamic (CEO of RIM. Blackberry) we have had an over usage of user names on Blackberry Messenger. We are requesting all users to forward this message to their entire contact list. If you do not forward this message, we will take it as your account is invalid and it will be deleted within the next 48 hours.’

The thing about messages like these is that many don’t bother to verify the information. A quick Google search would have revealed that Jim Balsamic doesn’t exist.

These types of messages weren’t exclusive to BBM though. Remember those frames on Facebook? One minute everyone was changing their frames to support what they were told was a good cause, only for a new message to circulate later saying that the frames were indeed a mark of the Devil and that by using it, you were actually worshipping Satan.

The surge of the Covid-19 pandemic has brought with it more hoax messages as well. These ranged from ‘the first case of Covid-19 was a man at the Dundee Hospital’ or that getting the vaccine would ‘leave you with a chip implanted in you which would allow Bill Gates to track you.’
Maybe Bill can help keep the crime levels down by telling SAPS when criminals were en route to commit a crime then.

Sadly common sense takes a back seat when it comes to hoax messages. But the same can be said for when it comes to scams.

How often do people fall for the ‘you have to deposit money to receive money that you won in a competition that you never entered or heard off before?’

The world is a dangerous place with people with too much time on their hands. So stay safe, stay sane and don’t forward that message unless you know it to be true.

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