Rob Rose
1 October 2002
Johannesburg — THE elite Scorpions crime fighting unit has arrested 22 Nigerians running an international scam in which they claim to represent SA banks listed on the JSE Securities Exchange SA.
The racketeers operated seven websites, including fake SA Reserve Bank and Development Bank of Southern Africa websites.
The websites contain SA cellphone numbers that are forwarded to telephone numbers in Nigeria, the US or UK.
The Scorpions say gullible "investors" are duped into opening online accounts, which reflect opening balances of $20m. To be able to access this $20m, wouldbe investors are asked to pay thousands of dollars to register with SA-based "law firms".
Many victims of the scam, most of whom are from outside SA, have already parted with millions of rands, says the unit .
In the instance of the fake Reserve Bank website, victims are asked to pay $10000 to register, and an additional $40000 in tax and insurance. The Scorpions say 28 people were in advanced stages of negotiations on this site. One such victim was duped into paying over R2m.
The Scorpions have since shut down the fake Reserve Bank (sarb.org.za) and DBSA (devbsa.org) sites, but the five others are still operational.
The five are: Continental Bank of Africa (www.continentalbankofafrica.com); Full Trust Bank (www.fulltrust.com); Afritrust Bank (www.afritrustbank.com); Chartered Investment Trust Bank (www.citbonline.com), and Eagle Bank Limited (www.eaglebanklimited.com). The information on these websites has been lifted illegally from legitimate banks including African Bank and Société Générale.
Scorpions spokesman Sipho Ngwema said that three raids were conducted in Johannesburg leading to the arrests of the 22 Nigerians. The ringleader, Samuel Williams, had already been jailed for 12 years on convictions of racketeering under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.
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