Linden Police Station warn public of common scams
This is after the police received an excess of reports surrounding crime in the last month.
Linden police are appealing to the public to not fall into the trap of various scam trends circulating.
Linden Police Station communication officer Sergeant Takalani Sibiya appealed to the public to read up on their various bank’s fraud prevention policies to ensure that scammers didn’t have easy access to their money.
Sibiya highlighted five scams that the police had received reports on in September.
- Call regarding fraudulent activity
The complainant alleged that he was at home in Blairgowrie when he received a call from his bank’s fraud department informing him about fraudulent transactions that were happening on his card. The bank informed the complainant about a Telkom debit order detected on his account, they further provided him with a reference number and instructions which he followed. An amount of R3 750 was fraudulently withdrawn from his account without his consent.
- SMS regarding frozen bank account
The complainant alleged that she was at home when she received an SMS from her bank notifying her that they had frozen her account as they suspected fraudulent activities in her account. The complainant went to the bank and discovered that R38 000 had been withdrawn from her account.
- Call from banks fraudulent department
The complainant alleged that at about 15:14 she was at her friend’s place when she received a phone call from a person by the name of David who claimed that he was from a bank’s fraudulent department. The person said he called regarding a cellphone contract debit order for R480 and proceeded to recite the bank card number. The bank card number belonged to the complainant’s mother who was 91 years old. David asked the complainant to log onto the banking app and enable him to cancel all further related debit orders to the contract. At 15:30 on the same day, a transaction of a different amount was withdrawn while she was on the phone with David. The complainant was scammed R3 455.
- Fake accident claims
The complainant alleged that he was at home in Robindale when he received a call from a man on the number 079 632 2461 who informed him that he was a family member of his domestic worker who had been involved in a fatal accident and he needed money. The complainant sent a cash send of R3 000 and later contacted his domestic worker and found out that she was still alive.
- Fake advertising
The complainant alleged that she was at home in Robindale when she transferred R1 000 to a holiday resort via EFT to reserve a booking and attached the proof of payment. Later that day, she received a call stating that she had sent the money to the wrong account and was provided with the correct account number.
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