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29-year-old man defrauds victims of R85,800 via fake US government grant email scheme

Dec 1, 2022Bloemfontein, South Africa1 source

Summary

A 29-year-old man is set to appear in Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court after impersonating a US government official in a fraud scheme that swindled nearly R100,000 from victims. The suspect is accused of deceiving a victim in December 2022 with an email offering a Covid-19-related grant, prompting her to transfer R85,800 into a specified bank account. The scammer also provided a list of purported beneficiaries, which led the victim to discover her friend had also been scammed. The suspect was arrested in Strand, Western Cape, on May 21 following a year-long investigation by the Hawks. The investigation revealed the scam exploited personal connections and targeted individuals during the pandemic. The case highlights concerns about identity theft and online fraud.

Incident Details

Domain
Fraud & Financial
Harm Types
Deepfake Fraud
Mechanism
conduct
Platforms
Facebook
Companies
Momentum Group AB
Recipient
GroupVictims of a fraud scheme involving impersonation of a US government official and exploitation of personal connections via email and Facebook
Dimensions
economicautonomy

Sources

1
Man impersonates US government official in R100,000 fraud scheme - dailynews.co.za
Google News Historical Backfill·May 26, 2025

This incident is documented by a single source. Source count reflects coverage in our monitored feeds, not the totality of reporting, and we do not evaluate publication quality.