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KZN police issue another warning over government tender fraud scam

KwaZulu-Natal police have warned the public not to fall victim to tender fraud scams. This is after a trend where fraudsters would contact small business owners and mislead them into believing that they had been awarded tenders from government departments.

Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Nqobile Gwala said that fraudulent letterheads and email addresses are used to request these businesses to supply a specific product or unusual product.

“To source the products, the small business owners would search on the internet and identify a specific supplier who is also part of the scam. After paying an amount of cash to the alleged supplier to order the items, the victims realised that they were scammed,” Gwala said.

“The scam has been in existence since 2015 and slowed down by 2020 after previous warnings from police. Approximately 68 cases were reported where the suspects have reverted to using the same modus operandi,” Gwala explained.

She said that in a case that was reported at Richards Bay in 2016, the complainant alleged that in September he received a quotation from a government department. In a letter, they requested 100 dyroc gas cylinders. After the money for the supplier was deposited, he realised it was a scam.

“We are appealing to community members to be aware of these ongoing scams and verify with the relevant government departments if they receive such requests,” Gwala said.

Source: www.iol.co.za

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KZN police issue another warning over government tender fraud scam

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