It has come to our attention at the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) that there are criminal elements that are using fraudulent NPA requests for quotations and government orders to defraud businesses of their goods.
We have been able to establish that these criminals send a request for a quotation and thereafter issue a fraudulent government order to convince businesses to process the order. They then call the businesses persistently with the view to pressure them into immediate delivery.
Possible telltale signs of a fraudulent attempt are the following:
- Receiving and sending e-mails from/to a g-mail address. All legitimate requests for the NPA should come from an e-mail address ending @npa.gov.za. Where faxes are used, they will generally originate from the NPA official numbers.
- Receiving phone calls from a cell phone number. All legitimate phone calls will come from the official NPA number. Our official in the order and quotation authorized to make phone calls to suppliers is Mr James Patterson.
- The NPA logo is not clean it has a partial border around the sides or sometimes replaced with the Coat of Arms, with the organisation’s name next to it in similar fashion as with government department branding.
Our website www.npa.gov.za or http://www.npa.gov.za/ReadContent402.aspx contains details of our physical addresses of most of our offices. With the exception of certain newspaper subscriptions, all goods will always be delivered to an official NPA office.The validity of any request for quotation or official order can always be verified by contacting NPA Supply Chain Management office at 012 845 6000.
NPA will not be held liable for any possible fraudulent actions by a third party. The NPA has a zero tolerance approach to fraud and corruption and criminal cases will be opened in all such cases.
Furthermore, suppliers risk being blacklisted from doing business with any National, Provincial or Local Government Department for a period of up to 10 years. Suppliers and service providers are encouraged to report known or suspected fraud & corruption (by other suppliers or NPA officials). They can do so via the toll free number of the NPA ethics hotline at 0800 212 580
