The City of Cape Town’s Directorate for Urban Mobility is cautioning mense to not fall prey to a free transport scam making the round on social media.
The department which oversees the operations of the MyCiti bus service said it recently became aware of the scam, falsely offering free MyCiTi rides and discounted bus cards on Facebook.
Urban Mobility mayco member Rob Quintas said the City was aware of a new Facebook page called ‘Cape Town public transport card’ with a following of 76 people promising six months of free travel on MyCiTi.
He said: “This is a fake page and is not in any way endorsed by the City. These fraudulent posts are circulating on Facebook and other social media channels.”
Quintas said the MyCiTi bus service was not running any promotions and that all information about its services would be communicated through the official MyCiTi social media channels, the MyCiTi website (www.myciti.org.za)and on the City of Cape Town’s website (www.capetown.gov.za).
“While we have reported this account and its contents to Meta/Facebook and requested the urgent removal of posts, residents are urged not to interact with the post and to report it as fraudulent activity or false advertising,” he said.
The City shared tips on how to avoid getting scammed online.
- Always verify the identity of the account or user sharing a post before interacting with it.
- Only trust information from official sources.
- Do not click on suspicious links or share sensitive information unless you are sure it is a secure, trustworthy source.