Cape Town restaurant owners have been warned to check credentials of people claiming to be Health Department officials and demanding free meals.
City of Cape Town mayoral committee member for community services and health Patricia van der Ross said the con artists pose as health officials and attempt to get businesses to renew their health certification, claiming that a Certificate of Acceptability (COA), issued to a business preparing food, expires every two years.
The scammers say that they work for the Western Cape Health Department and demand free meals from the restaurants, reports News24.
“Criminals are finding more inventive ways to swindle people out of their money or score free meals, as in this case. Not only is this fraudulent and illegal, but many restaurants are still recovering from lockdown and can ill afford to be scammed in this manner," said Van der Ross.
Three attempted cases have been reported so far, in Kalk Bay, Muizenberg and Bergvliet.
“In all three cases, the local environmental health practitioners who service the areas are well known and the business owners showed the criminals the door and reported the matter,” she said.
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