The City of Ekurhuleni has issued a statement distancing itself from a bogus wheelie bin tender that has seen numerous entrepreneurs scammed out of money.
The City explained that the 260ℓ wheelie bin tender claims to be supplied by a service provider alleged to be operating in Cape Town and that this is a scam. According to the municipality the perpetrators send possible service providers an appointment letter bearing the City’s logo together with a fraudulently generated order number purported to come from the City. “The unsuspecting and vulnerable service providers are asked to deposit their hard-earned money to a given account number before being told that the bins will be delivered on their behalf to 47 Van Buuren Road, which is the City of Ekurhuleni Communications and Brand Management Department.”Many scammed
Despite the City’s efforts to warn service providers of the scam, the perpetrators have succeeded in scamming money out of unsuspecting and vulnerable entrepreneurs. “Due to the high volume of victims recently scammed, the City emphasises that service providers must be vigilant. The City reiterates that the 260ℓ wheelie bin tender is a scam,” the municipality highlighted. “Entrepreneurship is highly encouraged and supported by the City and any organisation or individuals that seek to exploit aspirant entrepreneurs will be exposed,” it added.Real vs Fake
The municipality service providers thoroughly scrutinize tender documents because the fraudulent emails do have some elements of similarities to official City of Ekurhuleni emails. An example of the fraudsters emails are as follows: name.surname@ekurhuleni-gov.org The difference is as follows:- SCAM: …@Ekurhuleni–gov.org
- Correct email: …@ekurhuleni.gov.za
