- Desperate job seekers are being tricked into paying for non-existing government jobs and learnerships by scammers operating on social media.
- On Thursday, the Correctional Services Department said it was on a mission to break the back of the elaborate web-based scam targeting the public.
- The department is calling on anyone who has fallen prey to the scam to contact them and report the crime.
Unsuspecting desperate job seekers are being tricked into paying for non-existing government jobs and learnerships by scammers operating on social media.
The Correctional Services Department is one of the state entities used as bait by scammers to entice people with fake recruitment adverts.
On Thursday, the department said it had noted an increase in these adverts bearing the department's name and logo on various social media sites in recent months.
The department announced that it was on a mission to break the back of the elaborate web-based scam targeting the public.
According to the department, the scams included bogus advertisements for department learnerships where people are asked to apply on certain web-based platforms.
Stipend
The fake adverts further indicate a monthly stipend paid over a period of 12 months and requires applicants to make payments in order to be able to access such opportunities.
Correctional Services' spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo warned:
Nxumalo said members of the public were advised that, when posts or learnership opportunities became available, DCS would advertise them through its website and the mainstream media.
"The public is therefore cautioned not to fall prey to such scams, and further called upon to report such illegal activities to law enforcement agencies," said Nxumalo.
The department asked those who had fallen prey to such scams to register their full names, identity numbers, residential addresses, contact details as well as details of the persons and/or institutions to whom such applications were submitted via the email: Enquiry.Complaints@dcs.gov.za.
Once a complaint had been lodged, “we will share that information with the police and other law enforcement agencies for a broader investigation to be conducted and get the main players behind bars", said Nxumalo.