The Bafoussam Urban Community (CUB) has issued a warning regarding a surge in telephone scams targeting residents of the West region. Dishonest individuals are contacting people, posing as CUB agents, with the aim of defrauding them.
The scheme is simple: scammers call residents and introduce themselves as municipal agents. They then demand payments via Orange Money or Mobile Money for municipal services, including the provision of household waste bins. The CUB insists that this service is completely free.
The CUB has released an official statement to clarify the situation: "No municipal service requires payment by mobile phone, and CUB agents are not authorized to request funds by telephone or at home for any service whatsoever". The CUB advises people not to respond to any calls requesting money on behalf of the CUB and to immediately report any attempted fraud.
Persistent rumors suggest that the Mayor of Bafoussam, Roger Tafam, may be involved in this case. Residents accuse him of orchestrating this scam to enrich himself personally. Neither the mayor nor the CUB has publicly responded to these accusations. Roger Tafam is the first elected mayor of the Urban Community of Bafoussam. He was elected on February 25 by the municipal councilors.
The CUB is therefore calling for vigilance and reiterates that any payment for a municipal service must be made directly to the relevant departments, and not by mobile phone.
It is important to note that this is not the first time that scams of this kind have been reported in Bafoussam. In 2009, a scam network was dismantled in the central market, involving municipal agents. More recently, in 2019, a clerk was accused of land fraud.
The increase in these cases highlights the need for greater public awareness of the various forms of fraud and constant vigilance against scam attempts. The CUB encourages residents to go directly to its services for any administrative procedure.
