![\"\"](\"https:\/\/genesisekucalenimedia.com\/edn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/PAGE-5-The-alleged-facata-scammers-Philani-Henry-Mkhwanazi-Mahlabatsini-area-and-Nomfundo-Philile-Hurube-of-Mayiwane-area-appearing-before-Principal-Magistrate-Florence-Msibi.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBy Thokozani Mazibuko
\nTwo more alleged \u2018facata\u2019 scammers have been arrested for defrauding members of the
\npublic money amounting to over 80 000.<\/p>\n
This has resulted in Philani Henry Mkhwanazi (26) from Mahlabatsini area and
\nNomfundo Philile Hurube (29) of Mayiwane area appearing before Principal Magistrate
\nFlorence Msibi at the Manzini Magistrates Court on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
In total, the duo was slapped with 30 charges of fraud.<\/p>\n
The counts that the partners in crime faces, comprises of Theft by False Pretences, the
\ncontravention of the Prevention of Organized Crime Act of 2018, the Money Laundering<\/p>\n
and Financing of Terrorism (Prevention) Act of 2011, and the Computer Crime and
\nCybercrime Act 6 of 2022.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In most of the charges, the 'facata' scammers are said to have impersonated bank
\nofficials and informed their unsuspecting victims that their accounts were under
\ncybercrime attack and therefore, they should provide them with their banking
\ncredentials, so that they could assist them to avoid having their accounts being hacked.
\nHowever, after receiving the banking credentials, they would then use them to remotely
\nwithdraw their victims\u2019 monies from their bank accounts.<\/p>\n
In other instances, the \u2018facata\u2019 scammers would con their victims after posing as the
\nRoyal Eswatini Police Service (REPS). This they did by deceiving their victims that they
\nwere investigating \u2018facata\u2019 scams and their numbers have been hacked and were being
\nused by the infamous group (\u2018facata\u2019 scammers) to defraud members of the public their
\nmonies.<\/p>\n
They would then demand their victims\u2019 banking credentials under the pretence that they
\nwanted to assist them in ensuring that their numbers were no longer used by the
\nscammers to scam unsuspecting members of the public their monies, and in the
\nprocess, they would use same (banking credentials) to remotely withdraw their monies.
\nThey were both remanded in custody until October 10, 2025, pending their committal to
\nthe High Court.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, this takes the total number of facata scammers who have been arrested so
\nfar to 79, with over E3.7 million stolen from Emaswati.<\/p>\n
The infamous \u2018facata\u2019 scammers have been responsible for stealing monies from
\nunsuspecting members of the public amounting to millions of Emalangeni by tricking
\nthem into punching numbers on their phones, only for money to be remotely withdrawn
\nfrom their Mobile Money (MoMo) and bank accounts.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Pensioner loses E200 000 to facata<\/strong><\/p>\n By Thokozani Mazibuko
\nA 47-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly defrauding a pensioner a sum of
\nE200 000, which was her pension pay-out, under the pretence that he will assist her
\ninvest the money.
\nThis has resulted in Sithembiso Senzo Matsebula from Siteki area, who appeared
\nbefore Principal Magistrates Florence Msibi at the Manzini Magistrates Court,
\nbeing charged with Theft by False Pretences.
\nHe committed the offence on July 16, 2025 in Manzini.
\nAccording to the charge sheet, with intent to steal, Matsebula misrepresented
\nhimself to one Pauline Mnguni of Sidvokodvo area that she must give him money
\nin cash amounting to E200 000 under the pretence that she will receive passive
\nincome every month, knowing very well that this was not true and through the
\nmeans of the said misrepresentation, he obtained and stole the sum of E200 000
\nfrom Pauline.
\nMatsebula was remanded into custody until September 3, 2026 pending trial.
\nHowever, he applied for bail and he was granted same fixed at E10 000, under the
\nnormal bail conditions, which include amongst others, that he does not interfere
\nwith State witnesses, that he does not commit a similar offence while out on bail
\nand that he reports to court without fail each time he was ordered to do so.
\nMeanwhile, Matsebula is alleged to have convinced the senior citizen to surrender
\nher pension money to him on grounds that she was investing the money as she
\ngoing to receive a monthly passive income thereafter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Thokozani Mazibuko Two more alleged \u2018facata\u2019 scammers have been arrested for defrauding members of the public money…","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2538,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"csco_display_header_overlay":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_location_hash":"","csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,34],"tags":[46,73,48,82,49,74],"class_list":["post-2537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-national","category-pop-culture","tag-africa","tag-eswatini","tag-feature","tag-finance","tag-human-interest","tag-money-laundering","cs-entry","cs-video-wrap"],"yoast_head":"\n