Beware of these fake courses! — UKZN warns prospective students of enrolment scam

The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) has warned prospective students to be wary of scammers conducting registration for courses that no longer exist.

This week, the university said it had been made aware of a group of individuals who were making false representations and claiming to be administrators of two programmes that the university discontinued years ago.

“The university’s Primary Health Care Programme (PHC) and the Bachelor of Nursing Advanced Practice Programme (BNAP) were discontinued a few years ago.

“Note that UKZN no longer offers these programmes,” said the university.

Applicants are cautioned to be vigilant and only seek enrolment information from official university channels. They are also urged to report any suspicious behaviour or correspondence.

“Any information presented by any person around the programmes should be regarded as a scam. Members of the public are urged not to become victims of this unacceptable and criminal activity conducted in the name of the University of KwaZulu-Natal,” said the university.

This week, the City of Cape Town warned residents and job seekers about fraudsters offering false job offers.

Scammers are said to be sending messages to desperate job seekers to meet them at the Civic Centre and bring money to secure the job, before they are redirected to an internet cafe to create Gmail accounts to which “medical certificates” will be sent.

The city’s mayoral committee member for corporate services, Theresa Uys, condemned the criminality and warned job seekers to be vigilant.

“I urge new graduates and job seekers to be extra vigilant while searching for employment opportunities. The city would never ask for money from those applying for vacancies, internships and temporary work opportunities,” she said.

“I want to encourage those who have applied for jobs to keep safe the reference number and the title of the job they have applied for. Should someone phone or contact you, ask the caller for these specific details. If they cannot give you these details, you should know that it is a bogus call.”