FREE STATE: The Free State police are warning the public about cyber syndicates and scammers hacking phones, chiefly to defraud people of money. Capt. Loraine Earle, provincial spokesperson for the police, has confirmed that a female senior official from the Department of Home Affairs in Kroonstad has fallen victim.
According to information, the syndicate defrauded people by sending messages and contacting unsuspecting victims using the official’s cellphone number: (073 523 1218). The police are calling on anyone who may have been contacted by or received suspicious messages from the mentioned cellphone number to immediately contact the investigating officer.
“The official discovered that her cellphone number had been hacked and was being used by unknown suspects to trick people into paying money, in exchange for promised employment opportunities or government contracts,” said Earle.
“So far, police have been made aware of several victims, who collectively lost approximately R150 000. The police urge community members to remain vigilant and to never pay any money for employment opportunities or government tenders. All legitimate recruitment and procurement processes within government departments follow official procedures and do not require any form of payment.”
South Africa is one of seven African countries heavily targeted by syndicates in which scammers use a range of modus operandi, the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) Director of the Cybercrime Directorate stated. Other countries include Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Rwanda, Togo and Zambia.
According to authorities, scammers sometimes pose as telecommunications employees and claim fake “jackpot” wins to extract sensitive information and gain access to banking accounts.
Hackers use the internet to gain sensitive personal information through phishing; employing tactics such as fraudulent emails or messages to trick people into revealing personal information.
Syndicates could also target banking, investment and messaging apps.
According to Interpol, through its anti-cybercrime Operation Red Card, conducted from November 2024 to February 2025, authorities in South Africa arrested 40 suspects and seized more than 1 000 SIM cards and 53 desktop computers and towers. The SIM box fraud scheme reroutes international calls as local ones in large-scale SMS message phishing attacks.
Interpol reported that across the aforementioned seven African nations authorities arrested 306 people and seized 1 842 electronic devices. The network of cyber syndicates and scammers has defrauded more than 5 000 individuals and businesses.
Contact the investigating officer in the current case, Sgt. Samuel Seloana of the provincial Commercial Cyber Crime unit, on 073 925 4882 to report having been scammed by number (073 523 1218).
