Don't take the bait: Police warn public
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Wednesday November 5, 2025 06:00
With the rise of AI tools and the economic downturn, more Batswana are facing scam attempts than ever before. Many have fallen prey to fraudsters posing as bank officials, retail outlets, and mobile network providers' representatives.
According to BPS spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Near Bagali, they are concerned about the recurrence of phone call scams and general online fraudsters that are targeting pensioners.
He further warned members of the public, especially pensioners, to be vigilant about people who make phone calls pretending to represent banks or retail stores.
“These scammers often say that they are updating Know Your Customer (KYC) details or inform victims that they have won shopping vouchers. Using these tactics, they deceive individuals and steal large sums of money from their bank accounts,” he added.
Additionally, Bagali stated that recently, the police recorded six cases of obtaining by false pretence resulting in a cumulative loss of over half a million (approximately P537,000) across the country.
He stated that one of the incidents occurred on October 25, in Rakops, where a 64-year-old woman was defrauded of P251,000 by an unknown caller who purportedly identified herself as an employee of a local bank who wanted to update the KYC status.
Bagali said that in a similar incident in Mochudi on the same day, a 54-year-old woman of Bokaa lost over P128,000 through the same tricks.
Bagali stated that since the beginning of the year, they have recorded about 58 cyber-related cases.
In the last 10 months, some Batswana have been defrauded over P6.2 million by online scammers, he revealed to The Monitor.
He stated that the most affected is the 45 to 75 age group.
Bagali indicated that from January 2025 until up to date there were 19 males and 25 females who were scammed online.
Breaking down the number of cases, he indicated that they recorded 52 cases of obtaining by pretence with an amount of over P5.9 million involved.
Additionally, he stated that they registered four cases of theft, common (SIM swap) amounting to about P199,000 and one case of cyber extortion amounting to P300 and another case of cyberfraud costing about P300,600.
According to Bagali, the most common types of online scams currently reported in crime also include competition scams involving mobile money, cryptocurrency, which is still a new and poorly understood concept for many Batswana. “Scammers take advantage of this by pretending to be experts in Bitcoin or digital currencies. They promise to help you invest your money and double or triple it in a few days. They often show you fake screenshots of profits and testimonials or even create apps or websites where you 'see' your investment growing. But when you try to withdraw your money, they either ask you to pay a 'withdrawal fee' or they disappear completely,” he added. He also spoke about pyramid/Ponzi schemes and romance scams or online dating fraud, phishing scams (Email or SMS fraud) and business email compromise (BEC).
In light of these recurring incidents, Bagali appealed to members of the public to be very vigilant about these scammers and advised them not to share their personal banking details and to avoid conversations with strangers that could lead to financial transactions.
To protect themselves from cybercrime, Bagali advised individuals to take several precautions.
'Use strong, unique passwords for every account and enable two-factor authentication wherever possible for extra protection,' he said.
He also recommended verifying information before making payments and shopping only on secure websites.
Bagali further cautioned individuals to be mindful of what they share online, as personal information can be exploited.
'Protect your personal identifiable information (PII) and do not share it with strangers,' he emphasised.
He also warned against sharing One-Time Passwords (OTP) for any application or system with anyone.
'Always apply a two-factor authentication verification process to your social media accounts,' he added.
In the police efforts to enhance cybercrime detection and response, he stated that they are training investigators to effectively investigate these cases and collaborating with other law enforcement agencies domestically, regionally, and globally.
“We are also conducting school outreach programmes and involved in police, public-private partnerships with banks, Botswana Communication Regulatory Authority, and mobile service providers,” he continued.
This includes implementing robust security controls, conducting regular risk assessments, and developing tailored incident response plans, added Bagali.