Scammers Get A Hold Of Matric Students Who Failed Their Matric Examinations. Scammers have come up on social media to get a hold of matric students that may have failed their examinations.
Scammers have come up on social media to get a hold of matric students that may have failed their examinations. The students are promised original matric certificates; however, they come with a price. The advertisements are posted on Facebook from different accounts, promising to assist the ones that have flunked their matric examinations or dropped out of school before getting to matric.
According to the scammers, they assist the people in getting certificates for prices between R1500 and R2 500, the people don’t need to write examinations. According to News24, when one of the people were communicated with to ask about the matric certificates, the person replied by saying that he was working for the Department of Education as a database capturer. The person contacted went on to say that he doesn’t sell fraudulent certificates as he follows the registration system of the Department of Education to assist individuals to get a legal bar-coded certificate with a serial number.
The person says, “We make sure that you collect your matric certificate at your nearest Department of Education office. We register you to the Department of Education system and you get an SMS confirming you have been registered like any matriculant in South Africa. After 14 days you receive an SMS to collect your matric certificate at your closes Department of Education office.” The individual asked the reporter on the case to send personal details, a former examination and centre numbers, the person also asked for a first payment of R1 500 through Pep store’s money transfer operation. The person had to send the PIN so they could withdraw the money. The money is supposedly used to bribe the ones that make certificates.
“We write exams for you as per desired marks or percentage. After your matric certificate has been done you receive your second SMS with more information that tells you to collect your certificate at your closes Department of Education office and…you then send the last payment of R1000 and then we go our separate ways,” says the person on WhatsApp. The certificate also sent the reporter pictures of people with their matric certificates in hand. The spokesperson of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education, Kwazi Mthethwa, says its fake because the department does not work on the basis of bribes. “We have not authorised anybody to solicit money from the public, that’s why I’m saying it’s fake news and that we won’t entertain this. We don’t know these people,” says Kwazi Mthethwa.
by Alexandra Ramaite
