Former spokesperson for the MEC of Social Department, Thamsanqa Kenke, his phone was hacked. Photos by Raymond Morare
THE former MEC of Social Development spokesman's contacts were cloned and hacked on Sunday by scammers.
Thamsanqa Kenke told Daily Sun that he can't believe that this has happened to him.
He said at first his phone was blocked as he failed to call people or even send messages WhatsApp.
"This is so sad, and I never expected such bad thing to happen to me,” he said
He said at the moment he knows five people who have been scammed money collectively over R6000.
He said he was alerted by his comrade that he was chatting with him on WhatsApp.
"Since my WhatsApp was giving me problems at the time, I realised that something was wrong.
"I honestly don't know if these people know me but, on their requests, they used names and targeted people that are close to me,” he said
He said such things with demolish one’s reputation which takes years to build but can be abused just like that.
He said the incident was brought to him last Sunday as he was not accessing his number.
He said on Monday the 11th of January he went to Mamelodi East Police Station to report the matter.
"Police refused to assist me saying I must bring evidence that it was my number from network service provider.
"I then went to MTN of which they could not help me saying the number was not with them.
"I then went to Vodacom, they too said that the number was not with them.
"It was only after I approached Cell C that I was made aware that my number was ported to Cell C from MTN on Sunday.
"They deactivated the number from Cell C and ported it back to MTN.
"This was already Monday afternoon. He said on Monday he was alerted that the scumbag was busy again requesting money from people on my contact list.
"I felt powerless since I could not understand how people can just easily port a number between networks without the original owner knowing about it whom the number was RICA with,” he said
He said on Wednesday he was advised to seek help from one Brigadier at Provincial level who deals with cyber crimes.
"He advised me to open a case since he could not assist me without a case number.
"I tried to open a case at Thabong Police Station in Welkom on Thursday morning.
"Police there made it clear that I didn't have a case since I was not the one who was defrauded,” he said
Kenke managed to open a case at Moot Police Station in Wonderboom in Tshwane on Friday.
He said was still waiting for the case number so that he can forward it to the cybercrimes police who requested it at the province.
"My family is very much supportive, actually it's my wife who was alerting people in other WhatsApp groups to be aware that my number was cloned, and my WhatsApp hacked," he said
Gauteng Police spokesman Captain Mavela Masondo said: "In situations like this the complaint must go back to the police station and give them the number he is using so that they can check on the system and give him the case number."
Thamsanqa Kenke told Daily Sun that he can't believe that this has happened to him.
He said at first his phone was blocked as he failed to call people or even send messages WhatsApp.
"This is so sad, and I never expected such bad thing to happen to me,” he said
He said at the moment he knows five people who have been scammed money collectively over R6000.
He said he was alerted by his comrade that he was chatting with him on WhatsApp.
"Since my WhatsApp was giving me problems at the time, I realised that something was wrong.
"I honestly don't know if these people know me but, on their requests, they used names and targeted people that are close to me,” he said
He said such things with demolish one’s reputation which takes years to build but can be abused just like that.
He said the incident was brought to him last Sunday as he was not accessing his number.
He said on Monday the 11th of January he went to Mamelodi East Police Station to report the matter.
"Police refused to assist me saying I must bring evidence that it was my number from network service provider.
"I then went to MTN of which they could not help me saying the number was not with them.
"I then went to Vodacom, they too said that the number was not with them.
"It was only after I approached Cell C that I was made aware that my number was ported to Cell C from MTN on Sunday.
"They deactivated the number from Cell C and ported it back to MTN.
"This was already Monday afternoon. He said on Monday he was alerted that the scumbag was busy again requesting money from people on my contact list.
"I felt powerless since I could not understand how people can just easily port a number between networks without the original owner knowing about it whom the number was RICA with,” he said
He said on Wednesday he was advised to seek help from one Brigadier at Provincial level who deals with cyber crimes.
"He advised me to open a case since he could not assist me without a case number.
"I tried to open a case at Thabong Police Station in Welkom on Thursday morning.
"Police there made it clear that I didn't have a case since I was not the one who was defrauded,” he said
Kenke managed to open a case at Moot Police Station in Wonderboom in Tshwane on Friday.
He said was still waiting for the case number so that he can forward it to the cybercrimes police who requested it at the province.
"My family is very much supportive, actually it's my wife who was alerting people in other WhatsApp groups to be aware that my number was cloned, and my WhatsApp hacked," he said
Gauteng Police spokesman Captain Mavela Masondo said: "In situations like this the complaint must go back to the police station and give them the number he is using so that they can check on the system and give him the case number."
