A South African hair salon was used as a conduit to transfer part of the US$6 million siphoned from National Foods, a Zimbabwean company.
According to The Sunday Mail, scammers hacked into the company’s computer system, accessed credentials, and transferred money from its bank accounts.
A Congolese and a Ghanaian living in South Africa have been identified as suspects in the scam. National Foods reported a loss of US$1.4 million, but sources had claimed the firm lost US$6 million. Police have recovered US$950,000 to date.
Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said in a statement:
I can confirm that a Congolese and Ghanaian were involved. Investigations are still ongoing, with the South African Asset Forfeiture Unit and the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) working together on the matter.
We will reveal the names of the two as the investigations progress.
Reference is made to the current investigations being made by the Zimbabwe Republic Police in connection with the hacking of the National Foods email system that occurred in October 2022.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police, as promised, clarifies that engagements with National Foods have since revealed that a total of US$1,4 million was stolen through the hacking of the company’s email system.
Investigations are underway, and a total of US$950 000 has since been recovered. This includes properties and cash in South Africa.
The suspects have been identified, and they are being tracked by the police.
More details will be released in due course.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police and the South African Asset Forfeiture Unit are working together on the matter. According to sources, part of the money was transferred into a hair salon’s account, purportedly for payment of services rendered. The suspects engineered an intricate phishing scam that began with the scammers sending an email, disguised as a message from a South African financial institution, to National Foods’ finance manager.