In the heart of communities across South Africa, where the roots of tradition run deep and ancestral spirits are believed to guide one's path, a sinister plot is unfolding.
Fraudsters, capitalising on the profound respect for traditional African beliefs, have woven a web of deceit that ensnares the unsuspecting and the desperate.
The economic hardships faced by many South Africans has made them vulnerable, seeking ancestral guidance more than ever.
It is in this climate of hope and desperation that the scam artists have found fertile ground.
"Scam artists are abusing cultural belief systems and are taking advantage of the believers' financial desperation to scam them for everything they have," warns Nazia Karrim, head of product development at the Southern African Fraud Prevention Service (SAFPS).
The intricacy of these scams is chilling.
A syndicate, meticulously profiling their victims, sends a communicator claiming to represent a sangoma – a traditional healer.
This sangoma, they say, has been contacted by the victim's ancestors, urgently needing to communicate.
The plot thickens when the victim is told of a ritual to cleanse and bless their money, promising it will double in value.
The ritual involves hallucinogenic concoctions, making the victim susceptible to the scammer's manipulations.
By the end, many victims have handed over their life savings, only to receive counterfeit money or mere paper in return.
"The effects of the drugs take a few days to wear off and that’s when the victim realises that they have been scammed, but the syndicate has disappeared by then," Karrim reveals, emphasising the alarming frequency of such incidents.
The losses are staggering, with victims parting with hundreds of thousands of Rands, cumulatively amounting to potential millions.
But the exploitation doesn't end there.
Another scam, involving a supposed commodity trading syndicate from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has been identified.
These fraudsters, posing as mining executives, lure victims with the promise of lucrative deals involving coltan stones.
The scam unfolds with fake certifications, costly document acquisitions, and ultimately, significant financial losses for the victims.
In the face of such audacious scams, the SAFPS has launched Yima, a platform designed to combat these fraudulent activities.
Yima serves as a hub for South Africans to report scams, secure their identities, and even scan websites for vulnerabilities.
One of its stand-out features is a decision tree, guiding users through a process to determine if they might be the target of a scam.
Furthermore, the Verify'em tool on Yima allows users to confirm the identity of fellow South Africans using facial biometrics.
"Educating the public is one of the critical functions of the Yima website," Karrim states, highlighting the addition of special scam categories to raise awareness.
Her advice is clear: "Know who you are dealing with and be suspicious when you are requested to spend large sums of money via unconventional means and circumstances."
In a nation where the past and present coalesce, where ancestral spirits are revered, it's a tragic irony that the very beliefs that offer solace are being weaponised against the believers.
IOL NEWS