Cellphone snatchers target shoppers
GREYMONT – Customers are urged to make a note of the serial number of their handsets to avoid huge headaches in the event of theft.
Shoprite customer Gladys Manokore allegedly had her cellphone stolen right out of her hand in-store while doing grocery shopping at Northcliff Piazza on Long Road in Greymont, on 9 May.
“A man and a woman appeared to be doing their shopping alongside me in the fruit and vegetable section, when suddenly the man snatched my phone from my hand and passed it to the woman,” explained Manokore. “The woman immediately left the shop. I clung onto the man’s arm while calling for help, saying I had been robbed. Another woman by the tills started hurling insults at me, saying I was crazy. I believe she may have been an accomplice, to create a diversion.”
“When security eventually came to see what was going on, I told them what had happened. They took the man into the office where they searched him, but couldn’t find my cellphone, and they let him go. When I followed him outside, I saw him jumping into a car idling in the parking lot with the woman I had seen him passing my cellphone to, and another person in the driver’s seat.”
Sarita van Wyk at Shoprite head office issued a statement saying: “Shoprite sympathises with the customer’s loss, but can unfortunately not take responsibility for the personal belongings of consumers visiting its stores. Our supermarkets have various security measures in place to deter crime and these are monitored regularly and adapted as the situation at any given time requires. In this particular instance both the assistant manager and security of the store came to the customers’ assistance as soon as she alerted them to the incident, but no evidence regarding the person she suspected of having taken her phone was found at the time and therefore no further action could be taken. CCTV footage is available at the request of the investigating officer of the SAPS.”
“I wanted to blacklist my phone,” said Manokore, “but the police said they can’t give me a case number without an ITC number from my service provider. And my service provider said they can’t give me ITC number because I can’t provide them with my phone’s serial number. Mine was a Cell C PayAsYouGo account, but what if I had a contract? The thieves could rack up huge data charges in my name, which I would be responsible for paying.”
Jody Williams at Cell C head office confirmed, “Yes, to suspend your SIM card and put a block on your lost or stolen handset, you will need to provide us with the serial number of the handset. Customers are urged to make a note of their cellphone’s serial number and keep it in a safe place.”
Details: Shoprite head office 021 980 4000; Cell C head office 084 174 7459.
