Cape Town – Former public protector Thuli Madonsela has revealed she was the victim of a WhatsApp scam in which she and friends lost up to R10 000.
Madonsela told her Twitter followers that she was scammed over WhatsApp by someone posing as a friend of hers. It was only after the scammer became greedy that she and her son figured out the scam. She then warned her friends.
She added that people could find themselves in a difficult position because of other people’s dishonesty, especially without evidence to implicate them. She added that it worse when people hacked WhatsApp IDs and scammed others.
I and a friend lost thousands of rands from a scammer who had hijacked the WhatsApp profile of a mutual friend. He was pretending to be that friend. It was only when the scammer became so greedy and brazen that my son and I figured out the scam and warned other friends. WhatsApp…
— Prof Thuli Madonsela #KindnessBuilds (@ThuliMadonsela3) June 7, 2023
According to News24, Madonsela said the incident happened in 2021. She said she felt like she was being treated like an ATM by the scammer. She recounted that a friend of hers had lost her phone, which fell into the hands of the scammer who then had access to the friend’s WhatsApp profile.
Madonsela revealed that the scammer initially asked for R2 500 because they were having problems with their bank. The second transaction was for R800 for a ticket through FNB’s eWallet. In the third transaction, the scammer sent a photo of an electricity meter and an empty fridge. Even though the scammer sent new banking details, Madonsela didn’t figure out it was a scam.
Madonsela became suspicious when the scammer asked for more money. She asked the scammer if they wanted money in addition to what had already been provided to them.
According to IOL, Madonsela had earlier weighed in on suspended public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane’s refusal to participate in the inquiry into her fitness to hold office until the chair Richard Dyantyi recused himself. Dyantyi has been is fingered in bribery allegations.
Madonsela took to Twitter saying the judiciary would be ‘in trouble’ if they had to recuse themselves on the basis of someone else’s dishonest actions and with no actual evidence implicating them.
If people can be forced to recuse themselves simply because of someone claiming to be dishonestly acting on their behalf with no evidence implicating them, our judges would be in trouble. Even worse is that people can hack others’ WhatsApp IDs as many of us have been scammed by…
— Prof Thuli Madonsela #KindnessBuilds (@ThuliMadonsela3) June 7, 2023
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Picture: Twitter/@Thuli-Madonsela3
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
