What would you think if someone called you and with dazzling charm sold you an investment opportunity while also relaying your personal information including your full name, addresses and history of previous investments?
Would you question it or fall for it? Would you discern whether the thing sounds too good to be true? Would you take steps to check if what you are being sold is legit? If so, how would you go about it?
In a country with robust and protective laws, it is shocking that many victims of scams are often caught on social media or through their direct contact line.
This despite important legislation that is supposed to safeguard personal information and regulate how it is collected, processed and used, to avoid abuse and manipulation.
The Protection of Personal Information Act (Popia) has laid the foundation for protection, but its effectiveness lies in not only enforcement but a change in attitudes and culture, compliance and public education.
An unsuspecting Free State woman has dragged an alleged scammer, Simphiwe Dennis Manana, to court after she allegedly lost R400,000 to his company, Pol Empire, when lured into a con under the pretence of investment returns.
The Sowetan reported that the unnamed woman, a deputy school principal, bought into the idea that she would earn extra money from her savings of R200,000 and another R200,000 from a loan secured from a bank.
The woman claims to have not read much into the ploy until her calls were unanswered.
Another victim is said to have lost almost R100,000 to the same scam, with 18 more victims having come forward.
Manana and his company were earlier this year flagged by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) for their unscrupulous business conduct.
This would not be the first time that people fall victim to get-rich-quick schemes.
Recently the Hawks have clamped down on a “romance scam” syndicate involving foreign nationals who duped their girlfriends into paying large amounts of cash into their accounts pretending to start a business venture with them.
One woman lost R1.8m to a Ghanaian national, another R2m after meeting a man called, “Allen Craig” on social media. She claims Craig made requests for R700,00 and sometimes R500,000.
In another example, alleged trickster and businessman Louis Liebenberg and his wife Dezzi are in court over a diamond dealing scam. Their modus operandi is to advertise unpolished stones on social media, thus attracting investors with the fake assurance of returns — which were never gained. The con is said to have garnered more than R4bn since 2019.
These incidents elicit the question: why do people fall victim to scams? Is it achieved through the manipulation of human and emotional vulnerability? Is it situational? Is it financial desperation or the lack of awareness and the sophistication of the schemes?
What is clear is that many victims are often unaware that they are being scammed due to the level of sophistication and perhaps they are not aware of basic indicators that something might not be legit.
This is also an economic performance indicator as many are under financial pressure and would likely fall for anything that promises financial growth, but being easily trusting and optimistic that you might not fall victim are factors.
It is women who are mostly targeted, especially on social media through romantic advances.
There needs to be better protection of personal information which often aids in giving a scammer credibility, the scammers are also able to impersonate officials with authority.
More awareness campaigns must be conducted and people should be educated about how to verify the information they get from sellers.
There is room for improvement in addressing resource limitations on enforcement and strengthening the law’s capabilities in protecting citizens. The Information Regulator needs to be better capacitated to increase monitoring and investigations. This way, we will potentially see a decline in scams.
For opinion and analysis consideration, email Opinions@timeslive.co.za
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