Youngsters fall for scam
Don't fall for a scam artist who claims he has been robbed.
RESIDENTS are urged to be aware of a scam in the Musgrave area.
According to a reader, her 19-year-old daughter and her boyfriend got badly ‘stung’ at Musgrave Centre on Sunday night.
“They were sitting in the food court at around 6pm when a young Indian man approached them with blood all over his face. He was holding a Unisa textbook and asked them several questions such as whether or not they were students and so on. He then proceeded to tell them that he had been attacked, robbed of his money, around R4000, his cellphone and his laptop and needed a loan to get back to Newcastle,” she said.
The young couple fell for his story hook, line and sinker and the the man went off to the ATM to draw R400 to give the ‘victim’ who said his name was Jonathan.
“All very naive stuff for sure but these sheltered and naive children are often a favourite target. ‘Jonothan’ then requested a lift to town and after my daughter’s boyfriend took the con artist in his car and dropped him outside the DUT in Currie Road. He promised faithfully to phone once he got back to Newcastle and even asked for a tissue to wipe the blood off his face. He is very plausible and very persuasive and I would like to know the reason for lack of vigilant security at this increasingly unsafe shopping mall. Yes, the young couple were frighteningly naive but how long before he does it again?” she said.
Musgrave Centre management said: “Unfortunately con-artists like ‘Jonothan’ are drawn to shopping malls because of the volume of people and type of environment. They generally don’t look suspicious or different, making it difficult for security personnel to pick them out of a crowd. We urge patrons to report any requests from strangers directly to security so that we can assist should they legitimately be in trouble, or take appropriate action in the event of a scam.”
