Eskom wishes to warn members of the public about a new tender scam, whereby fraudulent orders and invitations to tender for Eskom contracts are issued to suppliers on behalf of Eskom.
The fraudsters target Eskom suppliers and members of the public, and pretend to be Eskom Supply Chain Management. As part of the phishing scam, the fraudsters claim that Eskom is inviting bids for the possible supply of certain products.
The fraudsters use the following address and tender details: Kusile Power Station, R545 Ogies/Balmoral/Kendal Road Witbank 1035, Tel: +27 (0) 130 042 338, Fax: +27 (0)130 042 339, RFQ Ref No: MPPSC/00/007. Eskom Holdings SOC Limited (hereinafter “Eskom”) invites you to submit a tender for the delivery and supply of Commercial and Industrial Meters.
In terms of the scam, the bidders are supposed to submit their quotations to the following email address:
“(kusile@eskomservice.co.za)”. The email address used is false and designed to mislead members of the public.
Eskom’s Divisional Executive for Security General Tebogo Rakau explains how the scam works. “Once the would-be supplier has tendered for the, they are then contacted via telephone or email by people who claim to be Eskom officials and are invited to submit quotations.
“The fraudsters then call these suppliers to inform them that their companies have been appointed to deliver goods and they have to sign and fax the appointment letter back to them as soon as possible because the goods are needed urgently. Furthermore, the fraudsters encourage the suppliers to use certain manufacturers as they are supposedly the only manufacturers. These fictitious manufacturers are part of the scam.”
Victims are then told to pay these manufacturers who then disappear with the said funds.
“To report incidents of fraud, corruption and irregularities involving Eskom, members of the public are encouraged to call Eskom’s toll free crime line on 0800112722 or email investigate@eskom.co.za,” says General Rakau.
Eskom would also like to remind suppliers to be vigilant and not to deliver any goods or transfer any payments to any supplier/manufacturer without confirming the authenticity of the orders with Eskom. Suppliers are also encouraged to report such matters to the South African Police Service in cases where they have been defrauded.
Members of the public must understand that procurement opportunities available from Eskom are advertised on its own website www.eskom.co.za/Tenders or on the National Treasury e-tender portal. Requests for quotation are signed and have an Eskom contact person’s landline and email address, with eskom.co.za credentials
