Police are warning the public to not fall prey and become victims of scammers doing their rounds.
One such scam and the most popular scam of all is that of cellphone SIM cards and although police have warned about this numerous times, the public keeps falling for such scams.
The latest cases reported to police are of two to three people who approach their victims by claiming to have a promotion on SIM cards.
They sell their promotion by saying you will receive a certain amount of data if you insert a SIM card which they give you to put in your phone.
“When you switch on your cellphone with their SIM card in your phone, you will find out there is no money or data on the SIM card.
“You will then see that money has been stolen out of your bank account. They access your banking details and everything through your SIM card,” said Capt Marieta Wright.
Capt Wright said people must not give their SIM cards to just anybody or fall prey to such promotions.
“Rather go into a cellphone shop and see if such promotions are actually true than being scammed out of thousands,” said Capt Wright.
She said police have already received four such cases in March and that one victim had R20 000 withdrawn from his bank account.
In other cases, it is the all so famous Facebook fraud of vehicles, electronics or whatever item is being sold and a deposit is required to secure the deal.
“Victims pay the deposit only to find out the item never gets delivered or it does not even exist.
“Rather see the item for yourself and go with a point of payment on delivery.
Make sure you can see the item yourself before you do an EFT or cash payment,” said Capt Wright.
Other fraudulent internet cases reported to police are those of people advertising items to be sold.
“Interested persons” will then contact the seller stating that they are interested in the item.
“They pay the money into your account and according to you, the money is in your account. The item is then sent to the interested person and when you go back to see your account, the money is no longer there and has been reversed,” said Capt Wright.
She said these criminals also use fraudulent proof of payment.
“If you see the money reflects into your account immediately transfer it to another account, then you know they cannot reverse the payment and that you don’t only lose the item but also the money,” said Capt Wright.
A new scam doing the rounds is of someone impersonating a police officer who targets men.
“When you go onto the person’s profile image, it shows two police officials, but this is not the actual person.
“He claims he is investigating rape cases against the person he is calling and that the person must pay a certain amount to him to make a “plan” with the docket,” said Capt Wright.
She said that no police officer is allowed to ask for money to make dockets disappear.
“If you are not guilty of any rape cases, why would you want to pay,” said Capt Wright.
She said she receives about five calls a week of the said scam.
“This is a syndicate running all over South Africa.
“Somewhere they are getting all your information. They know everything about you. Do not fall for this scam or pay over money,” said Capt Wright.
She said numerous attempts had been made to track these people, however, their cellphone numbers are forever changing.
“It is difficult to track them down. If you are unsure, rather speak to our police.
“If you do pay any money, and there is such a case made against you, you will be charged with perjury,” concluded Capt Wright.
