On a daily basis Worcester Saps deals with members of the community visiting the police station to report cases after they were scammed by unknown people and suffered great financial losses.

The following are a few examples:. A person will receive a call from another person claiming to be employed at one of South Africa’s banking institutions in the fraud department. The person will claim that the bank received a threat that your bank card has been cloned and that somebody is trying to transfer money from the bank account or that somebody is trying to make purchases with the bank card. The caller will request your pin number or to open your banking app to make an inquiry or the person will assist you to block your account or to cancel your bank card. With your assistance they will access your account and your account will be drained. They will also have access to all your bank accounts and investments which they will be able to drain in seconds. Sometimes you will have to speak to more than one person regarding the same scenario or you will be contacted by the manager of the bank employee.. A person will look for a vehicle to buy on social media platforms. Sometimes fraudster will use the name of a legit vehicle trader to lure you in. They might also pose as an auctioneer where repossessed vehicles will be auctioned. When you come across such an advertisement and make enquiries or dial the contact numbers in the advertisement, usually the person that answers your call will request you to make contact with them via WhatsApp. Once the seller sees that you are interested in buying the vehicle they will request you to make a deposit to ensure that you are the first person in line to buy said vehicle. Most of these vehicles will be available in other provinces and will have to be delivered to your address by a transport or courier company. You will also be requested to pay insurance and the courier fee. you will then be informed that the vehicle will be delivered at a certain time. If the delivery is not made in time the buyer will enquire from the sales person when the vehicle will be delivered whereby you will be informed that the courier vehicle had a breakdown and that the courier does not have money to fix the problem. Once again you will be requested to transfer money for the problem to be fixed. At the end of the day you will not receive the vehicle you have purchased and the vehicle will still be available for the next victim to be lured in.. In other cases the victim will be contacted by a random person or a broker who will give you the option to buy bitcoin, crypto currency, shares or to invest their money in some or other investment. The impostor will mislead you and will convince you to invest in the company. They will make promises of rapid growth in your investment. The moment you make a deposit or buy shares or crypto-currency you will be contacted numerous times to invest more and more, and more. You may even receive a call within a day to inform you that you may make a withdrawal. When say you would like to do so you will be requested to pay a release or cancellation fee, only to receive no money ultimately.. You may be blacklisted or struggle financially and need cash urgently. You will then apply for a loan via any of the social-media platforms. Within minutes you will get the green light to make a loan. You will receive documents you need to complete and submit. Soon you will be contacted by a random person who will share the good news with you that you qualify for a loan. You will then be requested to deposit a registration fee, an insurance fee and so on. At the end of the day you will be scammed and you will suffer great losses. The chance that your bank or any person will get your money back or to trace the culprits will be difficult because they use fake identity documents and names. The cellphone numbers and landline numbers they contact you from is also difficult to trace because they make use of ghost phones.

Be careful:
. Never share your bank card info with any person over the phone or via social media platforms.