Scammers Impersonate Ekurhuleni Officials to Deceive Residents

The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) hereby warns Ekurhuleni Metro residents against criminals who are sending fake WhatsApp messages to people in Kempton Park, possibly to gain access to their homes.

These individuals impersonate officials from Ekurhuleni’s Department of Energy and are threatening to disconnect residents’ power due to alleged outstanding debts.

The messages are fraudulent, and designed to intimidate residents and gain access to their homes or personal information.

A message sent from the cell phone number 068 724 9873 to a resident of Silverleaf in Birchleigh reads as follows:

“Good day. It’s Kelvin Ndlovu from City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality. It’s in regards to a scheduled disconnection for property on (adres) because of an arrears in the municipal account. I tried calling earlier on but your phone went on voice-mail. We are going to be at the premises in the next 2 hours.”

A similar message was also sent to a resident of Bosduif Street in Terenure.

The messages are accompanied by a photo of a uniformed Ekurhuleni official at a substation to create a false sense of authority.

When the individual visits a property, they present a forged statement of account indicating that the homeowner owes a certain amount, but then offer to settle the account for R2 000.

The Freedom Front Plus wants to make this very clear: No legitimate Metro official will send a personal WhatsApp message to notify residents of service disconnection or to gain access to a property.

Service-disconnection notices are formally communicated through official channels.

Residents should report suspicious WhatsApp messages from unknown cell phone numbers to the Metro’s fraud hotline at 0800 102 201.

Residents can also contact their local Freedom Front Plus councillors for assistance.

Freedom Front Plus Historical Commemoration: The party supports the commemoration of significant Afrikaner historical events.

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