Minister Musokotwane warns of fake empowerment scheme trending on social media

Government has warned of a fake empowerment scheme going round on social media, saying that it was not part of the national budget.

The empowerment scheme is not part of our budget, it is fake and must be ignored, according to Finance and National Planning Minister, Situmbeko Musokotwane.

Musokotwane told Zambia Monitor on Wednesday that government would engage relevant authorities to ensure that the perpetrators were identified, arrested and presented to court for the stiffest possible punishment.

He expressed concern that the practice of “impersonating” public sector institutions and officials by fraudulent money schemers was becoming prevalent.

“In addition to the routine process of reporting the perpetrators to Police, citizens will in a few days’ time be guided on how to identify fraudulent schemes and report fraudster’s in a just manner,” he said.

The Minister advised administrators of online platforms to verify with the hovernment before publishing any information bordering on public money matters.

“Citizens are also being urged to take personal responsibility and ensure that personal information is protected from online scammers. Citizens who ignore our warning risk losing funds and exposing themselves to fraud,” he said.

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