Don’t be caught out by tender fraud scams

Police in KZN have issued a warning to members of the public and small business owners not to fall victim to tender fraud scams.

A trend has been detected where a fraudster will make contact with small business owners and mislead them into believing they have been awarded tenders from government.

Hoaxers use fraudulent letterheads and email addresses to request specific products and information about these businesses.

According to a statement released by Saps spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele, small business owners would search on the internet and identify a specific supplier who is also part of the scam to source their products.

After paying an amount of cash to the alleged supplier to order the items, the victims realise that they were scammed.

‘The scam has been in existence since 2015 and slowed down by 2020 after previous warnings from police. ‘Recently, 65 cases were reported where the suspects have reverted to using the same modus operandi.

‘In a case that was reported in 2016 at Richards Bay, the complainant alleged that during September he received a quotation from one of the government departments.

In a letter, they requested 100 dyroc cylinder gases. After the money was deposited to the supplier, he realised that it was a scam.

‘Scammers are targeting desperate small business owners who are still cementing their feet in their industries.

‘We are appealing to community members to be aware of these ongoing scams and verify with the relevant governments department if they receive such requests.’