Alfred Moselakgomo

Alfred Moselakgomo

The Mpumalanga education department has warned schools in the province to be wary of wolves in sheep's clothing.

"It has come to our attention that there are people who phone schools and promise them that the department, in collaboration with well-known institutions, will be donating computers to those schools," said department spokesperson Jasper Zwane yesterday.

"The fraudsters in turn request the school to organise a handover function and to deposit an amount ranging from R1000 to R40000 for insurance cover of the computers.

"We don't have such people in the department," he said.

Zwane said two schools around Nelspruit had received such calls.

"In the event that a school receives such a call, it is advised to take the particulars of these people and immediately open a case at the nearest police station and contact us accordingly."

He advised schools that have suffered through this scam to come forward as this will enable the department to ascertain the extent of the problem.