PORT ELIZABETH - ONLINE SCAMMERS DUPE PE BUSINESSES OUT OF MILLIONS OF RANDS

Several conveyancing attorneys and new homeowners in Nelson Mandela Bay have been duped out of a total of R8.4-million by con artists.

The online scam includes the use of false bank accounts, fraudulent identities and fake e-mail addresses to siphon off the money. Since January last year, R8.4-million has been stolen in 19 separate cases reported by several conveyancing firms across the city.

News of the scam comes just days after police warned that several businesses in the city had been conned out of R22-million since December in a string of online scams.

But in the latest scam, the Hawks’ banking and cyber crime unit warned that lawyers had been targeted by online criminals.

The cases were opened by the attorneys days later, after the fund payments failed to reflect in the clients’ bank accounts.

The most lost in one transaction was more than R3-million, with nine of the cases reported between August and October.

Generally, the amounts stolen vary between R300 000 and R800 000 per transaction.

Police spokeswoman Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said the scam specifically targeted conveyancing firms. She said it was a countrywide scam.

“The firm receives instructions, purportedly from a client, stating that their bank details have been changed.

“This client is usually awaiting payment [for] a property sold,” she said.

“The instruction is sent by the perpetrators via e-mail but the address used by these criminals is almost identical to that of the attorney’s client.”

VIA - heraldlive.co.za