EL man held for cellphone banking fraud

THE employee of an East London cellphone shop has been arrested and has appeared in the magistrate’s court on charges of fraud amounting to R460 000.

Lusindiso Dike, 31, was the third shop employee arrested by the Hawks following an ongoing investigation by the unit into money being stolen from people’s accounts.

Dike was arrested and appeared in court last Friday while Siyanda Ngcongca, 26, and Siphokazi Mdangi, 26, were nabbed on May 15.

The three are accused of supplying confidential information to fraudsters to plunder bank accounts using cellphone banking.

Dike was arrested 18 days after Luvuyo Sivuyile Madikizela, 26, was arrested for allegedly stealing R460 000 from the bank accounts of a 73-yearold Durban man and a 72-year-old Cape Town woman using sim swaps. All four accused will appear in the East London Magistrate’s Court on June 2 after they were all granted R1 000 bail.

According to Hawks spokeswoman Captain Anelisa Feni, the Hawks uncovered the scam during an investigation by its serious commercial crime wing. She said the alleged victims opened cases after they realised that money had been taken from their accounts.

“It is alleged that after the sim swap was conducted, Madikizela transferred into approximately eight different accounts, just under R100 000 from an account belonging to a 73year-old man from Durban and approximately R380 000 from an account of a 72-year-old woman from Cape Town.”