North Coast domestic workers targeted in new scam
Madela and Dube said they had heard of about at least a dozen other women who had been conned in the same way.
Desperation to find work has resulted in several North Coast women falling victim to a scam extorting funds for uniforms and jobs that will never materialise.
Last week the Courier learned that job-seekers who had advertised they were looking for domestic work became easy targets for scamsters.
They were contacted and promised to be put in touch with a potential employer.
“They promised me a salary of R6 500 per month. All I had to do was pay a R550 deposit into a Pep Stores money market account,” said Tongaat resident and former Mango Airlines customer service agent, Makhosi Madela (56).
Madela said once the payment was made she had to take the receipt to the X-ray department at Netcare Alberlito, where she would be given a uniform and employed as a cleaner.
“I only realised I was scammed after the hospital told me there was no job available,” she said.
Madela said she was desperate to find employment as she has been without a job since being retrenched in 2021 when Mango Airlines went into business rescue.
Thirty-five-year-old Tongaat resident Nomfundo Dube also fell victim to the same scam.
“They told me to go to the hospital after making the payment, but when I got there nobody had a clue about the job,” she said, adding she had been without work since last year after losing her job as a cleaner at a Tongaat shop where she worked for 14 years.
“They took my last money,” Dube said.
Attempting to make contact with the person they had paid, the phone simply went to voicemail.
Madela and Dube said they had heard of about at least a dozen other women who had been conned in the same way.
Neither Madela or Dube reported the matter to the police, saying they had no faith left in the police and believed they would not investigate.
Provincial Saps spokesperson, Colonel Robert Netshiunda, said police had no knowledge of the new scam, but urged those who had been scammed to report it.
“We have not picked up on a trend, but warn the community not to pay money to scammers unless they have verified the legitimacy of any job offers,” he said.
Netcare Alberlito had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.
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