Several people have been swindled of their money in online scams in Limpopo over recent months.
Police say fraudsters use social media platforms to entice unsuspecting people by publishing bogus job and business opportunities. Numerous people have fallen victim to ruthless online scammers in Vhembe District during the festive season.
Speaking to SABC News, some victims in Siloam outside Louis Trichardt say they lost their money to online scammers.
“I have been scammed of R700 after I gave them money to process my car papers. They brought me fake ones because I checked and I saw it was all fake. I gave them money online for a stokvel and when we were supposed to get our returns the person was nowhere to be found that’s when we realised that we have been scammed.”
Meanwhile, Limpopo Hawks spokesperson Matimba Maluleke says they are investigating numerous cases of online scams in the province.
“We are investigating a lot of cases whereby women have been scammed. They target independent single women, so must be careful what they post on social media. They post on their statuses because they check IDs if you are single. They check that you are always going out alone so they will pretend to be someone else. I know one of the cases that we are investigating, they claimed to be one of the prominent soccer players.”
