First, I bid you all a Namibian Summer’s warm welcome to this edition of Con-sumer Education Bulletin.
I would also like to thank those who have sent feedback and comments to us via our various feedback channels: We value your comments and I want to as-sure you that we make every effort to ensure that we attend to your concerns and address issues that pertain to the way we regulate and supervise the financial industry.
In this edition, I would like to address a worrying trend that has developed.
The unemployment rate in Namibia is high and the fact is that people are becoming desperate in the job market. This desperation, however, has opened a lot of job seekers to a new type of scam designed to con them out of their hard-earned money.
It starts with an advert announcing vacancies for clerks, accountants, driv-ers, or other clerical positions. Interested applicants are informed that a direct deposit into a bank account is required in order to register said applicant with
NAMFISA.
That bank account is usually emptied and closed by the time any of the hun-dreds of interested applicants realise that they’ve been conned.
I find it prudent to inform all job-seeking Namibians to be wary of people mas-querading as potential employers while requesting payment for their services. Note that you are not required to have a NAMFISA certificate to work in govern-ment, state-owned entities or private businesses. This applies especially to drivers, accountants and cleaners, which are the job categories most targeted by this new wave of scammers.
People who encounter such advertisements or people making similar claims are requested to report their findings/suspicions to the police.
Phillip Shiimi