Hawks arrested a Facebook scammer in Western Cape

The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation(Hawks) announced that arrested of 29-year-old man in Strand,Western Cape which scammed someone R85,000 through Facebook and disguised as a representative of the U.S. government.

Warrant Officer Fikiswa Matoti confirmed that a 29-year-old suspect has been apprehended by the Hawks' Serious Corruption Investigation based in Bloemfontein and charged for fraud and money laundering.

According to Matoti,the arrest follows an extensive investigation relating to fraud allegations where approximately R85 000 was swindled from an unsuspecting complainant in December 2022.

Matoti said it is alleged that the complainant was contacted via e-mail by a suspect who introduced himself as a representative of the government of the United States of America.The complainant was promised a Covid-19 related grant on condition that she deposits money into a certain bank account.The suspect sent the complainant a list of other individuals said to be qualifying for the same grant.The complainant recognised her friend's name on the list and contacted her on Facebook.The friend confirmed a receipt of the pay-out.However,it was later discovered that,all along,she had been communicating with a scammer who had hacked her friend's Facebook account.

Matoti added that the matter was reported to the Hawks' Serious Corruption Investigation team in Bloemfontein for investigation,which resulted in the arrest of the suspect in Strand,Western Cape on 21 May 2025.He is due to appear before the Bloemfontein Magistrates Court on Monday,26 May 2025.

In separate case,the Hawks has announced that Scebi Thabiso Nene(37) has been convicted and sentenced by the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court on 23 May 2025 for multiple contraventions of the Cybercrimes Act.

Brigadier Thandi Mbambo said the conviction stems from incidents occurring between September 2022 and May 2023.Nene unlawfully downloaded images of high-profile individuals,including the President of South Africa,a former Minister of Police and his spouse,and the former National Commissioner of the South African Police Service.He manipulated these images by superimposing their faces onto pornographic content and subsequently distributed the altered images via WhatsApp and official Presidency email channels.

Mbambo mentioned that the matter was reported to the police and a case docket was handed over to the Hawks' Serious Organised Crime Investigation team in Gauteng for investigation.Nene was traced and arrested in Pietermaritzburg,KwaZulu-Natal.He initially appeared in the Pretoria Magistrates Court,after which the case was transferred to the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court.

Nene was sentenced as follows:five years direct imprisonment for counts 1 to 67(Cyber Forgery),and three years direct imprisonment for counts 68 to 254(Cyber Uttering and Disclosure of Intimate Data).

Mbambo clarified that the court ruled that the sentences will run concurrently,resulting in an effective five-year direct imprisonment term.