The Ministry of Small Business Development has warned members of the public about a number of fake Facebook accounts, which purport to belong to the Minister of Small Business Development, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams.

The ministry has strongly condemned the fraudulent use of the Minister’s name, profile and pictures to create fake accounts, whose sole intention is to defraud and scam innocent citizens, especially small business owners.

‘We would like to remind and advise all law-abiding citizens that neither the Minister nor the department will ever request ‘upfront fees’ from members of the public in exchange for accessing funding or business opportunities.

‘To date, we have identified over 25 fake accounts that impersonate the Minister. We can confirm that the only legitimate Facebook account of the Minister is this one: https://www.facebook.com/stella.ndabeni,’ the ministry said.

Anyone who has already fallen victim to this fraudulent activity is urged to report the matter to the police as soon as possibl
e. The fake accounts have already been reported to Facebook. – SAnews.gov.za

Source: South African Government News Agency