South Africa News

Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula’s cellphone cloned

Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula’s cellphone cloned. Her spokeswoman, Joy Peter, said the minister’s cell phone was cloned.

People from all walks of life have been victims of scams on social media and they have lost hundreds of rands. The latest scam involves Defence and Military Veterans Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.

Although Mapisa-Nqakula does not have social media accounts, this did not stop an impostor from allegedly trying to get money from unsuspecting targets while claiming to be her.

The minister’s fake social media account apparently is asking for cash or funding in exchange for tenders, job opportunities and business favours at the defence and military veterans’ departments.

Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa NqakulaHer office said: “The ministry of defence and military veterans has noted with concern fake Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media accounts claiming to be that of Mapisa-Nqakula.

“The ministry wishes to distance itself from these rogue social media pages and profiles. “People are warned against falling prey to this ongoing scam.

“This is nothing but a trick to scam people out of their hard-earned money. People are advised not to respond to online pages impersonating the minister, nor to pay anything if requested.

“The ministry does not expect any form of payment or funding from anyone interested in available opportunities at both departments,” the ministry said.

It said the minister did not communicate with people through social media, nor did she do business transactions of any kind on social media platforms.

“She uses reputable mainstream media for official communication and sharing of information on policies and government programmes.” Peter said people made the ministry aware of the scam after almost falling victim to it.

“Young people who had just matriculated were asked for R150 to R1 000 for jobs in the military, while people seeking tender opportunities had to pay thousands.

“In some cases, the fraudsters used the minister’s cell phone to call victims and claim she told them to do so. People need to be careful because the ministry will not ask for money for jobs,” Peter said.

The matter is with the defence force’s intelligence division. Anyone who sees fake profiles using the minister’s name and a picture should block them or report the page to the website it is posted on.

Source: Daily Sun