Another person has come forward claiming to have been a victim of the Ballito holiday accommodation scam.
During the festive season Tanja Parkinson from Newcastle and a couple from Limpopo, Shaun and Leena Thompson who planned to spend their honeymoon in Ballito, were scammed out of a combined amount of R12 000.
Both victims were reeled into the scam by an advertisement on Facebook for a three bedroom house in Edward Place, Ballito, opposite The Hops restaurant – needless to say they fell for the lie hook line and sinker.
After filling out application forms and speaking to the scammer over the phone both people had trustingly deposited their money into the man’s account. Soon after, he was unreachable via email and phone calls.
They then realised they had been duped.
Last week, Nikki Malman from Hideberg in Johannesburg phoned The Courier and said she was scammed by the same person for an amount of R7 000.
“I also saw the advert on Facebook and I booked out the house from December 26 to January 2. Photos were available of the inside and outside of the house.
“When I tried calling, the man – whose name I was also asked by the police to not mention, as they are trying to uncover his IP address – did not answer my calls. I emailed him but my mails would bounce back.
“I contacted the police and reported the incident but they have not caught him yet. My sister told me she read a story on The Courier website that sounded the same as mine.
“I searched for the other victim, Tanja, on Facebook and messaged her. We had the same experience with the same person,” said Malman.
Parkinson and Thompson both report that the police have so far not had any luck in tracking down the con artist.
>>> Need some ideas for things to do? Check out Holiday Vibes.
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