Innocents fleeced by WhatsApp scammers

MANY people, including celebrities, have recently been victims of a number-porting scam where their cellphone numbers are used in soliciting money from their contacts.

Victims from several different service providers, including legendary broadcaster Bob Mabena, took to social media to complain about the scam, where the scammers transfer or port a number from one network provider and transfer it to another, without the owner’s knowledge.

The scammers then gained access to the victim’s WhatsApp and requested donations and loans for an emergency. Victims would normally be requested to send the cash via e-Wallet which does not require any form of the recipient’s identification when they collect the money from the ATM.

Cellphone shops have been blamed for allowing people to port numbers without producing their IDs.

Shadi Baloyi told The Argus’s sister paper, The Star, that she could not access her WhatsApp on her work phone and was shortly afterwards called by her colleagues, asking if she was okay after they received messages from her number asking for R2 500 as she had been arrested.

Baloyi said she posted it on social media and warned her contacts and colleagues. “Unfortunately, by that time our intern had already sent money to that person and it became an issue because she thought I was lying and that I was scamming her.”

Baloyi said the the police were alerted, but it wasn’t resolved. “This damages your reputation because others will think you are a scammer.”

Nonkululeko Njilo said she received a message from Cell-C saying her number was ported. A while later she had no internet access.

When she went to work the next day, Njilo said colleagues also questioned her about a message similar to the one Baloyi’s contacts received.