The Acting Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Major General (Dr) Zeph Mkhwanazi, has issued a warning to community members in Mpumalanga about the resurgence of pyramid schemes in the province.
The call came after three victims, aged between 26 and 51, lost close to R100, 000 of their hard earned money in Kamhlushwa.
According to a report, the victims were scammed between August and October 2024. The first victim alleged that she saw an application on her phone inviting people to invest with a lucrative return in a short space of time.
She tried her luck and indeed received returns. She was then tempted to invest more money and shared the information with her two friends who also invested.
A few days later, they came to realize that the application was no longer active. They went to the bank to enquire about the account and learned that the account was blocked.
It was then that it dawned on them that they were scammed and they reported the matter to the Police.
Members of the public sho
uld immediately report any suspicious activities to the SAPS by calling the Crime Stop number at 08600 10111 or send information via MySAPS App. All received information will be treated as confidential and callers may opt to remain anonymous.
The Acting Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Major General (Dr) Zeph Mkhwanazi has issued a strong warning for community members to be cautious of unrealistic offers which appear as if they will bring lucrative returns whereas in reality, they will only bring calamity. The General further alerted community members to refrain from being lured to so called ‘products’ that will propel people to recruit others in making some investment without clear product information on what is sold or what is on the market. “We urge our people to make thorough research and verify credentials of companies they invest in before doing something that they will regret at the later stage,” warned the General.
Source: South African Police Service