The Africa Rising Foundation, of which Ndaba Mandela is the Chairman, is warning the public about an Internet and Facebook scam which has unlawfully used the names of Mandela and the Foundation.
"The Africa Rising Foundation is NOT asking the public for money in lieu of membership fees. We appeal to the public not to respond to this scam. If anyone has indeed paid over any money, we ask them to report this to the police. As the Foundation, we have also reported the matter to the police and have opened a criminal case," said Ndaba Mandela.
The Africa Rising Foundation became aware of the scam this morning, after Proudly South African contacted the Nelson Mandela Foundation regarding the authenticity and suspicious nature of two Facebook pages relating to the membership drive.
"We have determined that a fake Facebook page, using my name and photograph, had been set up to facilitate this scam. There is also a fake Africa Rising Foundation Facebook page, which is encouraging people to become members," said Mandela.
In terms of the scam, people are asked to send an email to a specific email address to request membership forms. This is not Mandela's genuine email address. A notification and form is then sent from the fake email account, requesting that money be deposited at specific supermarkets. The people behind the scam then request that a deposit code be emailed to them.
Both Mandela and the Africa Rising Foundation are appealing to members of the public to come forward with any information which could lead to the arrest of the fraudsters.