Cops urge public to fight hoax email

Johannesburg, 25 Oct 2007

The police are asking the public to help them fight a hoax petition e-mail regarding the alleged closure of the child protection units some years ago.

The petition seeks to overturn the supposed decision, citing the country`s crime rate, especially that against children.

Spokesman superintendent Ronnie Naidoo says the e-mails amount to a scam. The messages clog the police`s servers, and interfere in the detection, prevention and investigation of crime, he notes.

"Thousands of these hoax e-mail lists are forwarded to various sections within the police, especially the family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit. This results in a waste of valuable time, which could be utilised to attend to serious and urgent matters," Naidoo says.

"Hoax e-mails relating to the closure of the 'child protection units`, cases of kidnapping, rape, HIV/Aids, etc, have been circulating since 1995," he explains. "The main and only aspect which has changed over the years is the severity of the false information. The latest hoax e-mail contains disturbing photographs of the body of an unknown decapitated boy."

Naidoo says the petitions encourage people to add their name to a list and then to submit the list to the police, at childprotectpca@saps.org.za. "This e-mail address does not exist within the South African Police Service," Naidoo says. When the e-mail is returned to the sender, it is then often forwarded to any number of other existing police e-mail addresses.

"The South African Police Service does not have any involvement in the compilation or distribution of these hoax e-mails and distances itself from these hoax e-mails," Naidoo adds.

Naidoo requests the public:

* Not to fall for the hoax;
* Not to forward the hoax petition to friends, family, or colleagues; and
* Not to forward the hoax petition to the South African Police Service.

"The protection of children is a priority area [for the police]. The first child protection unit (CPU) was already established in 1986 due to this. Due to several factors, it was decided to extend the sensitive service which was provided to child victims, to adult victims of sexual offences."

He says this led to the CPUs being transformed into the family violence, child protection and sexual offences unit (FCS). The FCS still provides the same service to children.