Cameroon: LGBTI advocacy group foils scamsters; police make four arrests
The LGBTI advocacy organization Alternatives Cameroon has foiled an attempted scam by people posing as prestigious supporters.
By Courtney Stans
Here’s what happened, according to Alternatives Cameroon:
The organization was contacted on Oct. 3 by an individual presenting himself as the director general of Sonamines, the government-funded National Mining Company.
He stated that Alternatives Cameroon had been selected to take part in a conference organized by Sonamines in Yaoundé from Oct. 8 to 20 under the patronage of the Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon and chaired by the Prime Minister.
As a participant, Alternatives Cameroon would set up an information booth and take part in workshops and panel discussions. Its registration fee would be 300,000 CFA francs (about US $400).
Participants at the conference would need to go to the police academy to undergo Covid-19 testing and to take out health and accident insurance from the “Mutuelle Agence” insurance agency. A telephone number was given for a doctor from the Rapid Bio Teck laboratory who was in charge of Covid-19 tests.
The caller was given a contact list of 15 members of Alternatives Cameroon. He then began to call each of the members on the list, asking them to come to the police academy for testing and insurance.
At this point, the Alternatives Cameroon team became suspicious. The next day, the site coordinator of Alternatives Cameroon went to the offices of Sonamines in the Omnisport district of Yaoundé to verify the information about the conference.
He was surprised to learn that none of it was true.
Alternatives Cameroon then contacted a police officer belonging to the RAIL KPv human rights support group. He put them in touch with two anti-gang officers, who accompanied them to the police academy for the supposed Covid-19 test. There the police arrested four individuals, who were taken to the 2nd district police station in Yaoundé.
Alternatives Cameroon next became a target of unfounded rumors that it had arranged for the arrest of four individuals at a local hospital.
Police are continuing to investigate the case and have spoken with the director general of Sonamines.
Sonamines issued a press statement on Oct. 4, warning the public about scamsters who claim to be officials of Sonamines and seek to defraud honest citizens by persuading them to send money transfers.
Courtney Stans, the author of this article, is a Cameroonian journalist who writes under a pseudonym. Contact her at info@76crimes.com.
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