Pretoria – Two young men got the shock of their lives when they arrived at the offices of the Mpumalanga Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison to start their training as traffic officers, only to realise they had been scammed by a woman they met on Facebook.
Mpumalanga MEC for Community Safety, Security and Liaison Vusi Shongwe has warned community members seeking employment to avoid falling prey to fraudsters impersonating government officials.
The department said several young people had reported being swindled out of their hard-earned money in exchange for non-existent jobs or internships.
Shongwe urged the public to disregard “such unscrupulous people and not give them any money”. He said the scammers were “rogue elements” who must be immediately reported to the police.
“We should not allow ourselves to be tricked into paying money for government work or internships because there is no requirement for such. Applicants must follow the instructions clearly stated on the advertisements in order to avoid being taken advantage of,” said Shongwe.
He said the scammers should be arrested because they played on the vulnerabilities of the youth for their own selfish ends.
The department had placed an advertisement in the media earlier this year, inviting young people to apply for the traffic officer learnership.
Provincial spokesperson Moeti Mmusi said enrolment in the programme was being finalised.
He said the two young people who arrived in Mbombela had been swindled of nearly R4 000 by the unidentified woman, ostensibly to facilitate their enrolment into the learnership programme.
“The suspect has reportedly created a Facebook account where she lures unsuspecting people by promising them to assist with fast-tracking their applications into these learnerships,” said Mmusi.
“The two people who came to the department (on Monday morning) allege that they started communicating with her two months ago. She then advised them to come to Mbombela on Sunday in order to start training as traffic officers,” said Mmusi.
The two young people ended staying overnight at their own cost and on Monday they brought the matter to the attention of the provincial department.
In February, the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) distanced itself from fake advertisements circulating on social media, offering non-existent jobs with the metro police service.
“Criminals have taken advantage and robbed young people of money ranging between R2 000 and R7 000 per person for fake jobs. Some of the scammers have been arrested for selling fake JMPD jobs,” spokesperson Xolani Fihla said at the time.
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