South African Finance Ministry Warns Against Scammers

The South African Finance Ministry has warned the public against a scam doing the rounds, in which claims are made that Deputy Minister David Masondo will offer people funding for their business.

The scammers are on various platforms purporting to be the Deputy Minister.

“The Deputy Minister of Finance would like to alert the public that he and the Ministry would never approach people and offer them financial assistance of any kind.

“In most instances, those that fall for these scams, end up being requested to later pay thousands of rand before their businesses can be assisted, leading to financial loss and stress for the victims,” said the Ministry.

The Ministry warned that such scams can only succeed to the extent that members of the public have an “unquenchable thirst for easy wealth”.

The Ministry Identified 4 Key Ways to Spot a Scam:

• • If an organisation already has all of your personal details, they will not request you to re-confirm those details;
  • The e-mail requestor always requests for bank account information, credit card numbers, driver’s licence number, passport number, information about members of your family, and other personal information;
  • The e-mail or SMS advises that you have won a prize – even though you are not aware of having entered any competition run by the prize promoters; and
  • The names of persons used as senders of the e-mails are common.

 Source: SAnews.gov.za