For as little as R3 950, you could get R400k says ‘Rica Department’

Nearly R400 000 rand could be yours but first you have to pay R3 950 in order to claim the money.

This is the message Ballito resident Wilbert Hauptfleisch received on Thursday last week, which had him thinking that he and his wife Ann’s troubles were a thing of the past.

“We received the sms and contacted the lady who spoke to us in Afrikaans,” said Ann.

According to Ann and Wilbert, the woman who identified herself as Crezelda Kruger said they were owed R395 000.

Ann and Wilbert assumed that the staggering amount may have been a payout following the death of a family member.

At first they thought the payout to be legitimate, but before they paid the ‘deposit’ they grew skeptical and visited their bank.

Wilbert was advised by the bank to close his account and open a new account in 24 hours’ time.

Wilbert did this but it also created further problems as his pension was paid into that account and a number of accounts, rent and a number of policies were all linked to his account.

Now he will have to notify all these beneficiaries in order to avoid missing or receiving payments.

A search by the Courier on the caller identifier app Truecaller revealed that the contact number which Wilbert had been contacted from has already been listed as ‘scam’.

Attempts to contact Crezelda Kruger proved fruitless initially.

On the ninth attempt a man identifying himself as William answered the phone.

When asked if Crezelda was available, the man simply hung up.

Repeat attempts at making contact went ignored until Friday when Crezelda Kruger answered the phone and alleged that she was employed at the ‘Rica Department’.

When the allegations were explained to her, she demanded to know who the couple were, then alleged that she was working out of the Eastern Cape and refused to answer further questions.

Both Ann and Wilbert are urging people to be cautious and not fall victim to such scams.

Umhlali Saps communications officer, Captain Vinny Pillay also cautioned people to be careful.

“We urge members of the public to always verify the identity or organisation beforehand. If people are concerned, they can check with me at the station for confirmation,” said Captain Pillay.

The Courier asked the Head of Fraud Strategy Ulrich Janse van Rensburg at Absa whether the closing of the couple’s account was standard practice.

While the couple did not bank with Absa so he was not familiar with the exact details of the case he said he would not usually recommend closing your account.

He said standard practice, given which method of banking had been compromised, would have been to either replace the client’s bank card, or alternatively, simply update online banking log in details.

“Closing an account and opening a new one costs money,” he said.

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