Office of Chief Justice warns public after WhatsApp impersonation of SCA deputy president

The Office of the Chief Justice (OCJ) has issued an urgent warning after fraudsters allegedly created a WhatsApp account in the name of Deputy President of the Supreme Court of Appeal, Justice Dumisani Zondi, and began contacting members of the public using his photograph.

What happened

The OCJ said it had “noted the fake messages” and warned the public to take precautions. According to the OCJ, the messages were sent from the mobile number 076 208 2834, which is registered on WhatsApp as belonging to “Justice Dumisani Zondi.”

Official warning

The OCJ emphasised the risk and urged verification of communications that purport to come from judges. The office said:

“According to the information available to the OCJ, the individual/s sent WhatsApp messages purporting to be from Justice Dumisani Zondi, using a profile picture of his likeness.”

The OCJ added:

“The public is warned not to fall prey to this impersonator and needs to be aware that misrepresenting a state of affairs, knowing that it is not true, to the prejudice of someone else is fraud. The matter will be reported to the relevant authorities for further handling.”

Verification advice and past incident

The OCJ asked members of the public and the media to contact the office to verify the authenticity of any communication, directive, article or social media post that purports to be from a judge.

The OCJ said a similar impersonation was reported in August, when a fraudster allegedly impersonated Acting Judge President Zamani Nhlangulela of the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court via WhatsApp, using his photograph and a phone number registered in his name. The OCJ described that conduct as fraud and said it would report the matter to the relevant authorities.