Ministry of Finance warns of a scam

SIMON MUNTEMBA writes A SCAM in which unscrupulous people have embarked on a scheme to defraud unsuspecting members of the public by purporting to be managing Covid-19 stimulus grants in the name of the Ministry of Finance has been unearthed. In a statement, Ministry Of Finance spokesperson, Chileshe Kandeta said the secretary to the Treasury was concerned that unscrupulous people were defrauding unsuspecting members of the public in the name of the ministry.  Mr Kandeta said fake email addresses and illegal internet platforms were being used in the scheme. “This statement serves to reiterate our previously circulated advisory to members of the public that there are no economic stimulus/development grants resulting from an agreement between the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and Zambia, neither is there an agreement with the Global Entrepreneurship Facility (GEF). Both are make-believe scams and fake news,” he said. Mr Katndeta said the so called Winnie Chilanga whose name appears on the fake application form did not represent the Ministry of Finance in any capacity. In addition, he said, there is no part of the ministry which is referred to as secretariat grants department as she or he wants people to believe.  He further said the male figure on official documents was dressed in copper-yellow not as it appeared on the fake and scam oriented application form.  Mr Kandeta said the procedure for accessing funds from public institutions was clear and could only be found on official Government platforms.  He said in order to help trace the criminals, the ministry had written to cybercrime units of the Zambia Police Service, Drug Enforcement Commission, and ZICTA, to speed up the process of tracing the fraudsters and bringing them to book so that the public was protected from loss of data and funds.  Going forward, he said, it is important for members of the public to be on high alert and protect themselves against the wicked money-and-data-theft-schemes of fraudsters. The Sun