As the country went into Covid-19 coronavirus lockdown in March and the demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) increased, several scams emerged, targeting companies and government departments in need of surgical masks, sanitisers and gloves.
City Press knows of at least nine cases in which companies parted with money for protective gear to fraudsters who claimed to be manufacturing the equipment.
The cases were reported in Gauteng, the Free State, Western Cape and Northern Cape, and involved millions of rands.