Scammers target high profile citizens
Harare- THERE is a new fraudulent scheme in Harare as the city witnesses a surge in scams targeting high profile individuals, business persons, politicians and entrepreneurs.
The scammers use different tactics in an elaborate scheme to dupe high profile and high networth individuals using electronic devices and digital platforms.
These scammers use South African, American or British whatsapp numbers and put a prominent person’s picture on the profile and pretend to be that person.
Lately, they have pretended to be Kuda Tagwirei seeking to dupe those with free funds in SA by asking them to make a payment into a South African account number and then collect the funds from Tagwirei’s office once the proof of payment has been sent.
They also used a different approach pretending to be Shingi Mutasa claiming that there were funds available at his office and he needed Rands in South Africa for those funds.
Neville Mutsvangwa was scammed in a different manner by these fraudsters who gained access to the Nedbank platform to prejudice the businessman of over 1 million ZWL.
The Scammers are becoming bolder and more daring as they try different tactics to swindle money out of unsuspecting business persons.
A South African businessman lost money to these scammers after they pretended to be former Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono claiming that he needed some supplies for Luna chickens and the funds were available at the Luna head office in Harare.
Phillip Mataranyika of Nyaradzo and Walter Magaya’s names and identities have been stolen and misused by these fraudsters as they try to earn a quick buck without breaking any sweat.
The scams are becoming more complex and highly sophisticated as the scammers try new tactics and strategies as only seen in movies like Ocean’s 13 and the Italian Job.
Recently Obert Mpofu was nearly scammed after these imposters pretended to be Moses Chingwena of Croco Motors and claimed that there was farming equipment destined for Dr Mpofu’s farm and Obert Mpofu needed to release funds in Bulawayo for logistics.
The same crew approached Neville Mutsvangwa and claimed that they needed free funds in South Africa and they had USD in Bulawayo.
An alert Obert Mpofu unearthed the scam and called the police who are now seized with the matter. The scammers were trying their luck in stealing from both Neville Mutsvangwa and Obert Mpofu at one go.
These scammers tend to use unsuspecting delivery agents to pick and drop the loot resulting in innocent employees becoming casualties of the scammers and the law as these innocent employees are detained for questioning and at times being suspected of being part of the fraud yet in all honesty they were merely providing a service without the intention to defraud or prejudice anyone.
These employees and delivery personnel get to pay the price while the real culprits continue smiling all the way to the bank and dream up new scams.
Zimbabwe needs to tighten its cyber security laws and systems and ensure that all fraudsters and those perpetuating fraud on digital platforms are brought to book.
