If the president asks for airtime, say no: Presidency warns against scammers using Ramaphosa's name

• The Presidency warned about scammers impersonating the president and asking for funds.
• It said the president would never make requests of this nature.
• For more stories, visit the Tech and Trends homepage.

The Presidency released a statement on Twitter on Wednesday warning people that scam messages of the president requesting funds had been circulating.

The Presidency said the president did not request any funds or endorse any payments or contracts between third parties.

This is true whether the request has been made on websites, advertisements, social media, emails, letters texts or phone conversations.

The Presidency did not reveal any more information regarding the nature of the scams, but said anyone who has received communication of this nature from the president or the Presidency should terminate all future contact with the scammers and report the incident to law enforcement, if funds were transferred to the scammers.

Cybercrime and impersonation fraud are on the rise in South Africa. The country is on the verge of becoming the cybercrime capital of the continent.

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BusinessTech reported that impersonation fraud increased by 356% in South Africa between April 2022 and April 2023. 

While cybercrimes can be committed by anyone with a cellphone and an internet connection, there are often organised crime groups behind the scams, according to Craig Pederson, a forensic investigator at TCG Forensics. 

He said scammers could try a variety of different scams on someone who was vulnerable to being scammed, such as an elderly person or someone who has fallen for scams before.

Both Thuli Madonsela and Helen Zille revealed in the last month that they had been victims of an online scam.