Police in KwaZulu-Natal warn against scamsters who prey on the vulnerable

Police in KwaZulu-Natal warn against scamsters who prey on the vulnerable

Police in KwaZulu-Natal have warned against scam artists who are preying on vulnerable people, including those in mourning, after an elderly woman was conned out of almost R30,000.

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According to Zwane the suspect further informed the woman that if she did not react quickly by midnight her money would no longer be available to her.



“She was advised to immediately remove the money from her bank account and the suspect offered to help her to keep the money safe,” Zwane said.



“The suspect even convinced the lady that she would ask a police friend to accompany her to the bank where she would do her withdrawal. 



The lady agreed and was taken by three individuals (a man and two woman) to a bank in Bergville where the money was withdrawn.


“The lady was then asked to place her bank card and pin number as well as the cash into an envelope so that it could be kept safe, this she did. On the way back they left the lady at the entrance to Hambrook area and handed her an envelope. When she reached home she discovered that the envelope contained scrap paper. She found herself out of pocket for R29,000.”



According to Zwane, the suspects tended to focus their efforts on those who were dressed in black and appeared to be in mourning.



Bergville police, meanwhile, also warned of another scam, called the “sim swap scam”.



With this scam, a person received a call over their cellphone where the caller convinced the person that the call was from a cellphone service provider.



“The suspects claim that the person’s sim card is problematic and that they require their identity number and other personal details in order to rectify the problem. 


The person is warned that while they sort out the problem the sim card will be out of order for a short amount of time.


“A short while later the person finds that their cellphone does not work. What the person only later discovers is that a sim swap has been done and banking transactions have taken place which they have not authorised.”


Police said that in some instances the person would also discover that small loans had been taken out on their name.


“In the interest of keeping your money safe police would like to warn the community to be very vigilant of such scams and not to enter into any conversation over the phone where personal and private information is requested from you, especially with regard to your bank account number and identity number.


“Never disclose the fact that you have money in a bank account to a stranger or anyone else and never entrust your money to strangers who approach you on the street.” – African News Agency 

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