Scammer dupes college managers and students with fake internship jobs

TimesLIVE

5 days ago

The students said that when they arrived at the mine they were shocked to learn that they had wasted their money and time on a scam.
'We called 'Mike' and he gave us another contact number [which appears] on the mine's website,' she said. 'Mike' told us that we needed to meet him at Moruleng Mall, where we'd do a medical examination to get a medical certificate.
'He told us that we need to transfer R550 each to a TymeBank account. That's when we realised that this was a scam because we do not know of a big company that uses that bank.'
The student then called the college, which tried unsuccessfully to contact 'Mofokeng'.
The distressed students camped at the mall for hours while the college arranged transport to take them back to Gauteng. While at the mall, the students said they met students from four other institutions in Gauteng who had been scammed by the same man.
On Tuesday, some of the students were seen leaving the college carrying their clothes and bedding in bags.
An electrical engineering student said: 'I am from Mpumalanga and have nowhere to go because I did not pay rent for June as I was going to be in another province where the accommodation would have been covered by the mine.'
Jan Greyling, the spokesperson for the P&T Training Educational Institution, said they were approached by what appeared to be a genuine agency which had promised to place students at the mine.
'The agency presented documentation aligned with legitimate requirements. As part of the placement process, P&T Training incurred costs associated with the required medical clearances for the learners, ensuring they were fully prepared for their work-based learning experience,' he said.
Greyling said arrangements were made for the students to report to the mine as stipulated in the placement agreement with the agency on the college's behalf.
He said the matter has been referred to their legal team for investigation.
Siyanda Bakgatla Platinum Mine spokesperson Hope Tyira confirmed that 'Mofokeng' tried to solicit payments for medical examinations and certificates using a fake recruitment process.
Tyira said the mine was investigating the matter with their shareholders.
'On becoming aware of the incident, we acted swiftly and in co-ordination with relevant partners to safeguard the wellbeing of the students and we are conducting a comprehensive investigation into the matter,' he said.