The City of Cape Town issued an urgent warning, urging residents to be wary of scammers pretending to be City officials. Picture: Sasirin Parmai
The City’s of Cape Town’s Water and Sanitation Directorate issued a warning to residents about a scam in which fraudsters solicit money from City customers to avoid fictitious water restrictions or disconnections due to alleged non-payment.
The City has clarified that this is a scam and urges residents to report any suspicious behaviour or requests to the City and the South African Police Service (SAPS).
The scam involves the fraudster contacting City customers via telephone or WhatsApp, claiming to be from the City’s Water and Sanitation Directorate. They provide the customer with accurate property details, falsely advising that water to the property will be disconnected immediately due to arrears on the municipal account.
The customer is then told that, to avoid disconnection and a reconnection fee, a payment of over R2,000 must be made via cash send or e-wallet. Two separate incidents have been reported, affecting customers in Parklands and Durbanville, both of whom had municipal accounts in good standing.
Residents are advised to report any suspicious activity to the City’s law enforcement agencies or the City’s Fraud Hotline at 0800 1100 77, or to the South African Police Service. SAPS remains the primary authority in crime prevention.
Customers are encouraged to use the City’s communication channels to verify any communication from the City:
Phone: 0860 103 089
SMS: 31373 (maximum 160 characters, free SMSs do not apply)
WhatsApp: 060 018 1505
Email: water@capetown.gov.za
Online: Service Requests
Councilor Zahid Badroodien, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation, stated: "We appeal to residents to be extra vigilant and verify any suspicious correspondence directly with the City. We are particularly concerned about customers in arrears with their municipal accounts who may be easily lured into making payments to avoid water disconnections or restrictions."
IOL