On 04 December the South African Revenue Service (SARS) informed the public of a Customs scan, and warned as follows:
Please be aware of a courier-related scam in which scammers befriend victims on social media. The scammers will then start to communicate with the victims in either a friendly or romantic way. Once they gain the confidence of the victim, they will then send a message to say that they have sent a parcel. The scammers will then send a picture of the transport document and pictures of the content e.g., expensive clothing, shoes, mobile phones, tablets jewellery and US dollars. The victim is then asked to make a deposit, supposedly for transport costs, Customs duties and VAT. The account details provided will be those of an individual. In some instances, such correspondence is sent with a SARS or courier company logo. However, SARS will never request details to deposit money into an individual’s account. Please first verify the information with the local couriers or with SARS Customs.
Story by: Riaan de Lange