Cross-border crooks target Namibian companies Fraudsters based in other countries are targeting Namibian companies with their conniving schemes. The Walvis Bay based company JJD Holdings nearly became the latest victim of a scheme which fraudsters deployed some time ago to siphon thousands of dollars from Namport. Zelda Cloete, the accountant at JJD Holdings showed the newspaper proof of falsified letterheads of JJD Company and Standard Bank that were sent to the Municipality of Walvis Bay in an attempt to divert due payments into a South African based bank account. Standard Bank Walvis Bay Branch manager Ronnie Eimbeck confirmed the incident and said that he was waiting for JJD Holdings to provide him with the fraudulent documents and that the Bank’s Forensic Department was looking into the issue. According to Mr Eimbeck, the fraudsters intensify their efforts considerably in Namibia, especially in Walvis Bay where many companies are based dealing in imports and exports. “The letterhead is fake and does not belong to the bank. This is also not the first time such an attempt has been made to defraud a company by submitting falsified change in banking details. Fraudsters constantly try their luck. It also happened to WesBank some time ago. Clients usually discover that they have been defrauded when it’s too late because of the nature of the account and the transaction. They only discover that they have been defrauded after three to four days when the funds are cleared,” he said. Eimbeck warned companies as well as clients to be extra alert and pay attention to detail when they receive instructions like the ones used by the scammers. According to Cloete it was the first attempt to defraud JJD and she made the discovery when the municipality phoned her to verify the fraudulent change of banking details request. Luckily the company did not lose any funds. She notified the bank about the incorrect South African account and instructed them to close it immediately. The former bank employee said she was shocked by the discovery and called on companies and clients to always crosscheck any requests and instructions pertaining to change of banking details. “I worked in the bank and know that these things happen daily. The culprits should be traced and brought to book,” she commented. Namport Public Relations Assistant, Cliff Shikuambi also issued a media statement yesterday warning the public about bogus transporters who are calling customers and claiming to have released containers from Namport on their behalf. The scammers apparently continue to request down payments of between N$3 500 to N$8 000 for the supposedly rendered service since December 2013. According to Shikuambi the callers pretend to be Namport employees or make reference to Namport employees currently in the company’s employment. They have employed a different strategy now targeting towns like Lüderitz, Keetmanshoop, Otjiwarongo and Tsumeb.
Posted on: Fri, 23 May 2014 08:31:14 +0000
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