- KwaZulu-Natal police have warned that scammers are using WhatsApp to offer fake police jobs and demanding payments of up to R15,000.
- South Africans lost R2.4-billion to digital banking crime in 2025 as criminals increasingly targeted people through sophisticated scams and other digital methods.
South African Police Service (SAPS) have warned job seekers about scammers offering fake police jobs for R15,000.
The scammers are using WhatsApp to target people looking for work.
KwaZulu-Natal police confirmed the scam on Tuesday, 6 October.
According to SAPS, the scammers are even using a picture of a senior police officer to make the offer look real.
The WhatsApp account uses a photograph of KwaZulu-Natal Deputy Provincial Commissioner for Corporate Services Major General SB Ngcobo.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Paul Magwaza said the scammers contact people and promise them jobs in the South African Police Service.
They then send the person an application form.
But the scammers demand R15,000 for the fake job.
“They will immediately forward an application form to the prospective victim. The scammers demand R15,000 for the purported employment opportunity,’’ said Magwaza
Adding that ‘’victims are, however, instructed to pay a deposit of R7,500 with the balance payable upon signing employment papers’’.
Police stressed that nobody has to pay to get a job in the police service.
The warning comes as scams continue to cost South Africans billions of rand.
Figures from the South African Banking Risk Information Centre show that digital banking crime cost victims R2.4-billion in 2025.
That was up from about R1.9-billion in 2024.
Banking app crime was responsible for more than 70% of reported digital banking losses.
Card fraud losses also increased by 18% to R1.7-billion in 2025.
Scams are also a growing problem across Africa.
Interpol’s 2025 Africa Cyberthreat Assessment found that online scams were the most commonly reported type of cybercrime on the continent.
In some African countries, reports of suspected scams increased by as much as 3,000% in one year.
The KwaZulu-Natal police scam shows how criminals try to win people’s trust.
They are using a real police officer’s photograph and promising jobs to people looking for work.
Police warned people not to pay anyone who promises them a job in the police service.
Anyone who receives a suspicious WhatsApp job offer should report it at their nearest police station.
“Nobody should be asked to pay to get employed in the police; whoever is doing so is committing a crime,” Magwaza said.
