Police in Southern Province has arrested a 28-year-old man for impersonating Southern Province Minister, Cornelius Mweetwa by using his identity to extort money from the public using a fake Facebook page.
Provincial Police Commanding Officer, Alfred Nawa has confirmed to ZANIS in Choma, the arrest of Terry Chilambwe of NAPSA Complex in Kalulushi District.
Mr. Nawa says the accused opened a Facebook page purporting to be Southern Province Minister, Cornelius Mweetwa between August 2021 and May 2022 and used the platform to advertise fake youth empowerment programmes and employment opportunities.
He says the accused impersonated Mr. Mweetwa and demanded that people should transfer unspecified sums of money to his account in exchange of fake employment and empowerment opportunities.
Mr. Nawa further says the accused has been charged for impersonation and theft after he was apprehended in Kalulushi on the Copperbelt after an investigation by a combined team of officers from ZICTA and the Police.
The Commanding Officer further says the joint team is still conducting investigations in the matter to ensure that all those connected to the scam are brought to book.
The suspect who is a former ZAFFICO employee is in police custody awaiting court appearance.
And Mr. Nawa has urged the public to be vigilant and alert of scamming activities especially those engineered through social media.
He has further advised the public to make additional verifications and authenticate any catchy adverts before making payments of any kind to avoid falling victim to scammers.
SOURCE: ZANIS
