Sergeant Molope lists helpful ways to prevent fraud

Sandton Police Station continues its ongoing battle against criminals taking advantage of residents living in Sandton.

The station recently identified that most criminals are moving from violent criminal activities to fraud when targeting individuals in specific locations such as Sandton.

It is evident that criminals are resilient to any situation thrown in their direction but what some might not know is police officials use the same formula to be a step ahead.

Detective Sergeant Mpho Molope from the Sandton Police Station urged community members to be more vigilant and curious when dealing with the internet. “Victims that we usually assist tend to fall for some easily avoided situations – deals of vehicles on social media platforms, purchasing of pets from other provinces without fact-checking and many more,” said Molope.

The detective added more scenarios that criminals tend to use when taking advantage of individuals. Most criminals impersonate representatives from a bank. They ask for personal information to gain access to an individual’s finances. Others include having to pay money before registering for a loan, religious figures asking for large amounts of money, sketchy individuals from dating sites and call centres calling after working hours.

“By all means necessary, avoid giving your personal information to anyone that you don’t know online, even to bank representatives when communicating over the phone. Rather go to the bank physically than to deal with the risk factor, it only takes a matter of seconds and one answer to become a victim. As much as we [police officials] can advise the public to refrain from purchasing items online, we understand that technology is convenient for everyone. What I can say to the public is please verify and fact-check everything before exchanging anything, cash on delivery is a safe process that should still be used,” said the detective.

Molope concluded that individuals should take everything as a warning sign if a deal sounds too good to be true. “Our doors are always open for the victims and for those who are sceptical of an organisation or an individual.”