Farmers warned against resettlement scams

The Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU) has warned farmers against resettlement farm scams.

According to the union, a certain Ben Kamati is contacting farmers in the north of Namibia, presenting himself as an employee of the lands and resettlement ministry.

He apparently tells farmers that he handles borehole tenders or has to investigate problems with resettlement farms, it said.

“Confirmation has been received that no such actions are being undertaken by the ministry and our farmers are warned to be careful of these types of hoaxes.”

The union added that such scammers make individuals believe that action is being taken in their interest, after which advance payments are demanded.

Corrupt officials

It said the most common scams involve criminals who pose as officials from a bank over the phone and claim to be from the forensics department.

“They already have your personal and account details to convince you that their case is genuine.”

According to the NAU, the suspicion is that corrupt bank officials are responsible for leaking personal details.

“They indicate that a payment has been charged to your account that looks like fraud and then they ask if they should stop it for you. To be able to do this, you are asked to provide them with your card number or pin and with that, they will illegally withdraw money from your account.”

Banks regularly warn that they will never ask customers for any bank details over the phone.

“Scams of any kind are run by professional criminals who are very cunning and resourceful and our members are warned to be vigilant and careful.”