E-mail scamsters target would-be tenderpreneurs
Eastern Cape Hawks are investigating tender scam claims after two provincial business people were approached by people pretending to be government officials.
The tenders were purportedly for multimillion-rand state contracts, said Hawks provincial spokeswoman Captain Anelisa Feni.
The two unidentified people applied separately for two different state tenders after receiving e-mails from “government officials”, one in an unnamed department and one in a municipality.
The fake officials said they should deposit R300,000 if they wanted to be awarded the tenders. Instead, they reported the solicitations to the Hawks.
Feni said similar scams were taking place in other provinces and that the money was later withdrawn by crooks.
Feni said one of the Eastern Cape individuals had tendered for a multimillion-rand contract in a provincial government department and was later asked to deposit an amount of R200,000 in exchange for being awarded the tender.
She said the other one had tendered for a contract in a municipality and was later asked to deposit R100,000.
Feni would not name the department or municipality.
“The complainants for both cases reported to the serious corruption investigation unit of the Hawks that they received emails requesting cash in exchange for the tenders.
“The e-mails look authentic as they contain the department or municipal logo and names of senior officials employed there. The e-mails state that the recipient must pay a fee in order to be awarded the tender.
“They did not comply but instead rightfully reported the matter to the Hawks.
“We received information that in another province the same modus operandi was used and the service provider allegedly deposited the requested amount, which was later withdrawn in another province,” said Feni. “Investigations have so far revealed that the bank accounts belong to foreign nationals. We are still investigating these cases, therefore we are unable to release further information at this stage.”
People caught paying bribes would face criminal charges, she warned.