President Cyril Ramaphosa’s name has been used as a ruse by scammers to con the public, the South African presidency has warned.
The South Africa president said that texts allegedly sent him by the have been making the rounds.
“The president does not request any funds or endorse any payments or contracts between third parties, whether through websites, adverts, social media, emails, letters, texts or phone conversations,” the alert said.
It said that anyone who has received messages of this kind from the president or the presidency should stop communicating with the con artists in the future.
The president stated anyone who had already transferred money to the scammers should report to law enforcement authorities, but it has not provided any other information on the scams’ nature or how long they have been going on.
According to local media reports, the country has seen an increase in impersonation instances and cybercrime.