Online platform launched to report, identify, and prevent syndicate-driven scams

Yima – a one-stop website for South Africans to report scams, verify potential scammers’ identities, and scan any website for vulnerabilities related to scams – has been launched to assist in the identification and prosecution of syndicates.

Established by the Southern African Fraud Prevention Service (SAFPS), the platform aims to address the scourge of scams by taking a proactive approach to fraud prevention.

Nazia Karrim, the head of product development at the SAFPS, says a key element of the website is the ability to report a scam incident or any suspicious activity to the SAFPS. These reports are analysed to assist in syndicate identification and are shared with law enforcement for investigation by specialised task teams.

Another is informing and educating the public on the latest cons. Two such ruses that are currently robbing South Africans of millions include a scam that abuses cultural belief systems, while the other lures investors with a bogus business proposition that involves the trading of coltan stones.

Ancestry scams

The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) has noticed the emergence of ancestry scams. According to the DPCI’s specialised 419-Scams Task Team, the incident volumes are alarming.

“The DPCI 419-Scams Task Team has informed the SAFPS that this scam has already impacted numerous victims who hand over hundreds of thousands of rands in each case. The loss value of this scam could range in millions of rands,” Karrim says.

She explains that the scam is run by a syndicate that profiles its potential victims before approaching them. Typically, a member of the syndicate will approach the potential victims, telling them that he or she has been sent by a sangoma who has a message for them from their ancestors.

The so-called sangoma, also a member of the syndicate, informs the potential victims that they need to be cleansed to help improve their financial circumstances and life in general.

“The victim is told to bring a set amount of cash in a bag when visiting the sangoma, which will be cleansed and blessed by the ancestors,” Karrim says.

On arrival, the sangoma requests the victim, as part of the ritual, to drink a cleansing herbal remedy, containing hallucinogens.

“The sangoma blesses the money, which miraculously doubles in value. The scammers, unbeknown to the intoxicated victim, add the additional cash into the bag during the ritual, leading the victim to believe the ruse,” Karrim says.

The next time they visit the sangoma, now usually with a significant sum of money, the victim is drugged again. But this time, at the end of the ritual, they are handed a bag filled with counterfeit money or paper.

Karrim says the sangoma impresses upon the victims that they are only allowed to open the bag a day or two later for the blessing to be successful.

“The effects of the drugs take a few days to wear off, and that’s when the victim realises that they have been scammed, but the syndicate has disappeared by then.”

Commodity-trading scam

The 419-Scams Task Team is also investigating an investment scam that involves a commodity-trading syndicate. Karrim says a number of people have already been impacted by this scam, and the potential losses estimated to be in the millions of rands.

Karrim says the scam is being run by foreign nationals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) who are visiting South Africa posing as mining executives.

“After a ‘chance’ meeting with the potential victim, the phoney mining executives set up business meetings to present the potential victim with a bogus business proposition which involves the trading of coltan stones.”

Columbite-tantalite – coltan for short – is a dull metallic ore found in major quantities in the eastern areas of the DRC. When refined, coltan becomes metallic tantalum, a heat-resistant powder that can hold a high electrical charge.

The potential victim is told that the market selling price of these stones is currently very high, and that the victim is welcome to take a sample of the rock and conduct their own research.

“The victim is then contacted by another member of the syndicate pretending to be the buyer who is interested in making a purchase,” she says.

At a meeting with the so-called buyer and the executives to discuss the “lucrative” transaction, the potential victim is advised to have the stones tested at their expense. The executives arrange a tester who provides a false certification that the sample is genuine.

“To facilitate a large-scale transaction, the victim is informed that they require the acquisition of numerous other certifications, licences, and tax documents from the DRC, which the phoney mining executives claim they will facilitate the arrangement of, but the victim will be required to bankroll all the costs,” Karrim says.

After numerous costly and fruitless engagements, the victim realises that the transaction was a scam. But by then, they have lost a significant amount of money.

Report fraud

Karrim points out that the SAFPS has added a special scam-type category for ancestry and commodity investment scams on Yima. She says, armed with this information, potential victims can use tools on the Yima website to help them refine their decision-making process.

“One of the features on Yima’s website is a decision tree that walks consumers through a decision-making process to help them discover if they are potentially being targeted in a scam.”

Potential victims can also use the verification tool, Verify’em on the Yima website, which will help them identify whether someone is in fact a South African citizen and verify them against the Department of Home Affairs using facial biometrics.

“If they do get scammed by that individual, they will have a profile confirmation to help identify the scammer. Know who you are dealing with and be suspicious when you are requested to spend large sums of money via unconventional means and circumstances,” Karrim says.

A scams hotline is also available to report a fraud incident directly to participating banks, retailers, or telecoms companies via a single number 083 123 SCAM (7226).