Deputy minister of finance warns of online funding scam

The ministry of finance has warned of an online scam where funding for businesses is allegedly offered by deputy finance minister David Masondo.

"The deputy minister of finance would like to alert the public that he and the ministry would never approach people and offer them financial assistance of any kind.

"In most instances, those that fall for these scams end up being requested to later pay thousands of rand before their businesses can be assisted, leading to financial loss and stress for the victims," the department said in a statement.  

The ministry has since given pointers to recognise a scam:

• If an organisation already has all of your personal details, they will not request you to re-confirm those details;
• The e-mail requester always requests bank account information, credit card numbers, driver’s licence number, passport number, information about members of your family, and other personal information;
• The e-mail or SMS advises that you have won a prize – even though you are not aware of having entered any competition run by the prize promoters; and
• The names of persons used as senders of the e-mails are common.