How fake Trevor Manuel stalks Facebook users with investment scams
Former Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, Old Mutual chairman, warns of social media scam.
Image: Werner Beukes | Independent Newspapers
Old Mutual, South Africa's first mutual life assurance society established in Cape Town in 1845, is alerting the public to a highly sophisticated investment scam circulating on Facebook and potentially other social media platforms.
The scam uses AI-generated fake images and voice recordings of its chairman, Trevor Manuel.
The fraudulent posts falsely depict Manuel providing investment advice or encouraging people to invest in specific products, activities he has never engaged in and would be illegal for him to undertake.
Manuel is a retired South African politician and former anti-apartheid activist who served in the cabinet of South Africa for more than 20 years between 1994 and 2014.
He was Minister of Finance from 1996 to 2009 under three successive presidents and was the first post-apartheid Minister of Trade and Industry from 1994 to 1996.
Manuel later served as Minister in the Presidency for the National Planning Commission from 2009 to 2014 and was a member of the National Executive Committee of the ANC from 1991 to 2012.
During his ministerial career, Manuel assumed a number of ex-officio positions at international bodies, including the United Nations Commission for Trade and Development, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the G20, the African Development Bank Group and SADC.
In addition to being chairman of Old Mutual's Board, he is a non-executive director and deputy chairman of Rothschild (South Africa).
Manuel's warning
In a statement condemning the scam, Manuel emphasised that “artificial Intelligence (AI) can easily be used by bad people.
"I say without fear that those images are fraudulent. I do not give investment advice to anybody. It would be illegal to do so.”
Manuel pointed to the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (FAIS), passed in 2002 during his tenure as Minister of Finance, which stipulates that only qualified, registered individuals with valid certification can offer investment advice.
"I do not possess such certificate," he stated.
How to protect yourself
Manuel urged the public to exercise extreme caution and verify credentials before engaging with any investment opportunity.
“Any investment product must be with a reputable company and should have a certificate from the Financial Sector Conduct Authority. If it's not certified, my plea is that people do not engage with it,” he said.
He reminded people that “if it looks too good to be true, it is likely to be too good to be true”.
Manuel expressed particular concern for retirement savings: “Too many people have lost their hard-earned money, especially what they've saved for later in life, stolen by crooks. I plead with you to protect your nest egg.”
His advice: “Take the time ask the questions and insist on seeing the proof. Please protect yourself!”
Old Mutual, which now employs over 27,000 people and operates in 12 countries across Africa, strongly condemns these fraudulent tactics designed to deceive the public and steal their hard-earned savings.
Tips
Old Mutual has provided the following tips so people can better protect themselves from fraudsters and identity thieves:
- Check that the apps you download from the App store are verified and legitimate.
- Check and verify all requests for personal information and only share information when you are 100% sure there is a legitimate reason to do so.
- Never share login details such as passwords or banking pins with anyone. Old Mutual will never contact you to ask for your username or password.
- Always use a strong password that contains letters, numbers and symbols and change it regularly.
- Apply multi-factor authentication on all accounts, where possible.
- Do not share too much information about your life on social media and use privacy settings.
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