The provincial commissioner of the police in Mpumalanga, Lt Gen Mondli Zuma warned people against a scam that has surfaced in the province during which unsuspecting people are conned of their hard-earned money.
His warning came after incidents were reported.
Criminals call complainants or victims of stolen or robbed property such as vehicles and pretend to be police officers.
They tell the victims that their property had been found, but handing over the property to the complainants might take a long time.
In order to fast-track the process, the criminals request a fee from the victims and promise to give them their property within a day or two after payment of the amount.
However, after receiving payment, these criminals vanish and their phones suddenly go off.
Lt Gen Zuma warned people not to fall prey to this scam.
“Services offered by the police are free and it does not cost you any amount of money to get your recovered stolen property back.”
“In the instance where cash is required, for instance to obtain records, fingerprints and other services, you are kindly reminded to insist on a receipt.
“Let the process of getting your property back if and when it has been found, take the normal process, without cutting corners. In that way, people will not be scammed of their money,” said Lt Gen Zuma.
He further warned the criminals to stop conning people of their belongings, because the net will soon close on them.
