Bramley Police Station has urged the community to be careful when shopping online.
Spokesperson Captain Molefe Mogodi said, “It has come to our attention that people are scammed when buying or paying using internet banking. The detectives are investigating cases where the victims were defrauded through what they thought was a fair transaction.”
He added, in most of those cases, the victims would have received emails informing them that their banking details had changed and were given new banking details. The victim will only realise once the money has been sent, that it was not sent to the intended recipient.
Captain Mogodi advised, “While we are doing our best to eradicate these kinds of fraud through our investigations, we are, at the same time, advising our community to take the following precautionary measures where possible.”
- Please verify all details sent to you prior to continuing with the transaction.
- As a regular client, be suspicious when you are notified to use new banking details other than the ones you normally use.
- Make a telephone call to the company, supplier, etc., before making any payment.
- Where possible visit them or phone their landline and note the name of the person you are dealing with.
- When buying vehicles online, make sure to go and check if the physical address actually exists.
- Make sure that you physically see the car.
- Do not make any deposits into any bank accounts before conducting physical checks/visits.
- Criminals intercept emails sent to you by legitimate companies and switch the banking details to their own accounts and then send them on to unsuspecting clients.
- You end up paying the criminal and you are still left with the burden of having to pay the legitimate company that you owe.
- The companies that you owe do not take any responsibility for this.
“We serve and protect with pride.”
Details: Bramley Police Station 011 445 4113
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