Senior superintendent urges kids not to scam people
MBABANE – Eswatini Royal Police Service (REPS) Senior Superintendent Nicholas Jele has urged children to stop using their social media platforms to scam people of their money.
Jele is under the REPS Fraud and Commercial Unit.
His warning is related to the growing number of learners seeking donations to assist them in settling their outstanding school fees debts.
The act by some children has been met with mixed reactions on social media recently.
While some social media users were sympathetic, there were those who wondered if this was a new trend of scamming people.
When issuing the warning, Jele stated that it was a criminal offence to scam people using social media and all those found to have been involved in such acts would face the wrath of the law.
Offering
He said people should verify the backgrounds of the people seeking help before offering money.
“It is true that people are in need of financial assistance and lending a helping hand is great but some have taken advantage of that opportunity to make money for themselves under the guise of people who are very much in need. The public should stay alert while extending help where due,” he said
Meanwhile, Psychologist
Ndo Mdlalose encouraged parents to consistently check their children’s phones to ensure that they were not doing anything illegal.
She expressed that nowadays parents had to constantly keep an eye on their children to ensure they stayed away from activities such as scamming people on social media.
Pandemic
“The pandemic has done so much harm including the mental wellness of children. To keep themselves busy and sane they end up getting up to no good which could lead them on the wrong side of the law or even worse get them human trafficked. Parents should also ensure that they are vigilant when it comes to their children having new things that they would not afford buying on their own,”she said
She advised parents to take
their children for therapy sessions as they were going through a lot during the pandemic.