Scammers Pretend to Be Takealot, Get People on Facebook to Pay to Enter a Competition

• A group of scammers have presented themselves as online retailer Takelot on Facebook and Whatsapp
• They advertised unrealistically discounted goods, pretending that they were selling them on behalf of Takealot
• An example of one of the unrealistic discounts is asking R60 for a brand new iPad, which usually retails around R16 000

JOHANNESBURG - A group of scammers have presented themselves as online retailer Takealot on Facebook and WhatsApp under the guise of hosting a competition with attractive prizes but charging people to enter.

These scammers were especially active over the festive season when many people pinned their hopes on winning prizes that would ease their holiday expenses and tide them over into the new year.

Besides the prizes, this group also advertised unrealistically discounted goods, pretending that they were selling them on behalf of Takealot, MyBroadband reports. These items included iPads, televisions and hairdryers.

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Methods used by the scammers to get money from people

An example of one of the unrealistic discounts is asking R60 for a brand new iPad, which usually retails around R16 000. Selling this item for R60 would constitute a 99.6% discount, which is not feasible.

Takealot warned South Africans of the scammers by detailing how people can tell if a post is really by them or not. The retailer said that they would not charge competition entry fees, nor would they make winners pay for their prizes to be delivered.

They added that people who see further scammers using Takealot's name must immediately let the company know.

South Africans react to Takealot scams

Samantha Govender believes:

"Definitely a scam."

Khutso Fst Ledwaba advised:

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"You need to verify your page."

Nontokozo Toto Makhubo said:

"I almost fell for this scam. Luckily I've put different phone numbers and I didn't put through my banking details."

Gordon Fox added:

"I also fell for this. Lost R300 on this scam under Takealot's name."

Karin E Smit asked:

"Why would people fall for this? If stuff is that cheap then you should know it's a scam."

Woman lies to investors about being in witness protection, stole R10 million

In other news about scams, Briefly News previously reported that the Hawks and the South African Police Services (SAPS) are on the hunt for Sweeran Govender, who allegedly duped unsuspecting investors of a cumulative R10 million.

The police say she lured in friends and family members into a lucrative investment opportunity into her personal protective equipment (PPE) business and promised that she would pay them dividends.

SAPS National spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidoo says Govender's scam began in June 2019 and at some point, she was paying out dividends to her investors before stopping.

Source: Briefly News