Uganda Police has come out and warned of an outbreak of online scammers whose illicit business has become rampant in the past days.
According to the law enforcement body, the scammers have become so notorious to the extent of conning and fleecing money from police officers in fake carrier courses.
This was revealed by police spokesperson Fred Enanga in a briefing in which he also issued security advisory to the public ahead of the festive season.
“We have received complaints from people who are getting calls or SMS texts from fraudsters who claim to be employers for those who are employed; like our officers have fallen victims where fraudsters have used landline phone numbers similar to those we have,” he said.
Enanga revealed that the con stars portray themselves as Police Directors and when they establish that the officers they are talking to don’t have passports, they request them to pay Shs 600,000 for the express passports.
“The scammers promise the unsuspecting police officers to arrange for them trips to Switzerland in January for a leadership course organized by the Swiss Police,” he said.
Other reports revolve around the buying and selling of commodities online, where people pay for goods which they do not receive or supply goods and commodities, and do not receive the payment.
Police also warned about the questionable deals from alleged sales agents and other get-rich quick fraudsters.
“The public should avoid misleading social media scams with items for sale from small businesses, because they can receive items as counterfeit or much different from the one advertised.”
The advisory also highlighted the pop-up holiday events/virtual events, where scammers are creating fake event pages, social media posts and emails.
Police further called for alertness as regards look-alike websites especially for utility services, “which offer very attractive rates for services.”
“Scammers create these to make dead-end purchases and steal private information from clients. If you are not certain about the email, do not click any of the links. The same applies with temporary holiday jobs aimed at stealing money through fees for job applications,” said Enanga.
For business persons, police said there is an increase in the number of notifications about shipping details from retailers and carriers warning those making purchases online to watch out for fake shipping deals.
“We want to emphasize that no matter how good or profitable a deal or transaction may be, it is important to conduct sufficient due diligence or double check, whom you are buying from or selling to. Avoid making immediate payments via mobile money or other cashless transactions, always verify the transaction and guard your personal information. And where a meeting is arranged, look for an established place or offices, if not, avoid meeting people at their places of choice,” Enanga warned.
