The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has alerted the public to be careful of fake job advertisements and websites pretending to be the IEC.

The Electoral Commission has observed misleading WhatsApp and other social media advertisements. These ads falsely state that the commission is hiring for the upcoming 2024 National and Provincial Elections and ask individuals to share their personal information. Some fake ads even claim to promote the Commission's recruitment portal. These fraudulent activities involve phishing, where scammers impersonate the Electoral Commission to trick people into providing sensitive personal information by using the lure of job opportunities.

The Chief Electoral Officer of the Electoral Commission, Sy Mamabolo, emphasised that the Commission only advertises job opportunities on its official social media channels (Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter) and its recruitment portal on the official website (www.elections.org.za). He warned that any other posts, messages, or websites asking for personal details as part of an application process could be phishing sites.