[FOLLOW UP] One step ahead of alleged scammer
Mr X strikes again, and another woman almost fell for his story.
Recently a second victim reported falling prey to a job scam which involves the exploitation of an innocent job-seeker’s personal information.
The News first reported on Lynette from Breaunanda who supplied her future employer – the alleged owner of a pool company – whom she has never met face-to-face, with all her personal information such as her address, banking details and ID copy among other things.
He promised her a salary of R8 500, a company car and medical aid. He then sent her instructions prior to her employment, asking her to pay his employees’ wages through her bank account.
After approximately two weeks she grew suspicious when she received a strange WhatsApp message from an unknown number.
Unfortunately it was too late, as it turned out that Mr X may be involved in a scamming cycle – using the personal information of various job-seekers to his benefit in order to receive money for alleged false properties.
Read full story: I’m the victim but the made me the suspect
However, this was not the last of Mr X as another woman – Jane (real name and surname withheld due to fear of victimisation) also fell for this false opportunity.
According to Jane, she looked for and applied for vacancies on various platforms including Gumtree and OLX, and then received a WhatsApp message from Mr X, asking her whether she was still available as he had an administrative position for her.
He allegedly also told Jane that he owns a pool company, and promised her a monthly salary of R8 500 as well.
“He told me the job is mine and requested my personal information, then asked me to pay his employees’ wages as he had not had the time to do so,” she said.
Luckily Jane’s husband smelled something fishy and requested to meet with Mr X in person.
“We arranged a meeting for that Sunday, but when I sent a WhatsApp message to confirm our appointment, I discovered that he had blocked me,” she explained.
Fortunately they were one step ahead, and thus prevented what could have been another disaster caused by Mr X.
“My heart broke when I discovered this had happened to someone else, and way worse. But that’s the thing about him; he is unbelievably professional, so you wouldn’t suspect anything,” Jane concluded.
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