The first victim of the new bail scam has been reported in Dundee and a woman is R2 000 poorer. Police said a woman received a call from someone calling himself Captain Edwards who told her, her boyfriend had been arrested.
The ‘Captain’ had already talked to the prosecutor and R2 000 in cash was required to release her boyfriend from custody.
He demanded that the money be paid ‘today as tomorrow bail will be R5 000’. He asked that the money be deposited into the money market at Shoprite. He also left his telephone details.
He promised that once the R2 000 had been paid the boyfriend would ‘be brought home before he (the Captain) goes off duty.
The R2 000 was duly paid in at Shoprite and she and other relatives waited expectantly for the boyfriends’ return. When he did not arrive, she tried calling Captain Edwards but this phone had been switched off. It was then that the family realised they had been duped and called in the police.
Captain Mbense of the Dundee SAPS warned residents not to fall for the con. Anyone with information can call him at 034 2 999 700.