Online fraudsters have scammed numerous South Africans on Facebook, claiming to be South Africa’s biggest online retailer Takealot.
This past festive season, several ads from “Takealot” with substantial discounts on various products, including TVs, iPads, hairdryers, and cooking appliances were doing the rounds on Facebook and Instagram.
Individual users on WhatsApp also shared the posts.
One of the pages advertised iPad Pro tablets for R60.
As a reference, the iStore currently charges R15,999 for an entry-level iPad Pro model with Wi-Fi-only and 128GB memory.
Therefore, that “deal” would amount to a discount of roughly 99.6% — an impossible discount.
Below are examples of some of the scam ads on Facebook and Instagram.
Takealot posted a warning to consumers in mid-December after it became aware of some of the posts being widely shared.
“We have been made aware of fraudulent promotions, job offers and posts doing the rounds on social media,” Takealot said.
“Please note that these posts are not official takealot.com communication and are scams. We strongly recommend that you do not engage with them in any form.”
Takealot provided these basic pointers to spotting a scam in its name:
- Takealot does not request payment to enter into its competitions.
- Takealot does not charge for the delivery of prizes.
- Customers don’t pay extra to unlock deals.
It also advised customers to consult its scams page for further information.
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