BUSINESS NEWS - Recent social media and email scams seem to have taken a turn for the worse. It looks like crooks have lost the last bit of shame in their efforts to make a few bucks.
The first irking scam uses a fake video of Johann Rupert, chair of SA-based Remgro and Swiss-based luxury goods company Richemont, in which he is supposedly talking in a very emotional manner about his father. The late Anton Rupert was well-known for helping others during his lifetime.
The message is that Johann will help you too – if you invest R4 800 in an online trading programme.
The crooks promise that “South Africans no longer need to work”.
‘Opportunities’ in derivatives, forex and cryptoVarious bucket shops use this video to solicit investments into high-risk derivative, foreign exchange and cryptocurrency trading, often domiciled in Cyprus or Malaysia.
These “brokers” are not registered with the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) in SA, and get very angry if you insist that it is illegal for them to offer financial services in SA unless registered as a financial service provider (FSP) locally.
Or maybe they get angry because I register to invest and keep them talking for 20 minutes when they call to clinch the deal, but then refuse to give them my credit card number.
Ukraine
The newest scams involve people asking for donations to help the poor Palestinians in Gaza – using a gmail address and asking for donations in bitcoin. Currently, many scams misuse the Ukraine war to make money by sending out appeals to help the suffering women and children in the war-torn country.
Read more on Caxton publication, The Citizen
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