It is very sad to think there are people out there preying on the desperation of others. It seems that the unemployed are seen as easy targets by scam artists and sickos who are out to satisfy their own agendas.

During the last week in October, a young girl from Hospital Park, who has been struggling to find a job, heard of an opportunity at a car dealership. Even though the dealership was not based in Ladysmith, she was told they have a ‘satellite branch’ in town.

“I got a number from a friend of mine who said she bumped into a man at the bank. He was standing in the business queue, noticed her and asked her if she wanted a job. She couldn’t make the appointment and suggested that I go instead. She gave me his number and when I phoned him, he asked if he could come and see me at my house for the interview. I quickly told him to meet me at a popular diner instead.”

When she arrived at the diner, it took almost an hour for the man to finally arrive… and when he did, he greeted her briefly and excused himself. “I waited for almost half an hour for him to come back. He said he was going to fetch something from his car.” (Obviously, he was making her wait to see just how desperate she was for the job)

Everything seemed legit up to that point though. But things were to take an unexpected turn when he started asking strange questions such as, “Do you have any piercings and where are they?” He also wanted to know if she had any tattoos. He wanted to see the tattoos, but the young lady refused to show him. After the interview, he spoke to someone at his ‘office’ and instructed them to prepare the paperwork for the hiring process.

Then he walked the young lady out to her car, and the conversation went from strange to sexual.

“He asked me what I would do for him to get this job and if I could keep a secret. I started feeling very uncomfortable and decided to put my phone on record. He told me he wanted to have adult fun.”

The young lady was horrified and when she refused his advances, he asked if she would rather forfeit the job than have fun with him. He tried to convince her to leave her car there and take a drive with him to “sign the contract”, but she was not about to fall for any more tricks. “I’m very hurt. I am serious about getting a job and he just saw me as a piece of meat.”

After the unpleasant experience, she did some research and found out that the car dealership has no branches in Ladysmith or the surrounding area and that they have no idea who this man is.

“I want other women to be aware of this. I feel lucky that I managed to stay safe – maybe someone else might not be so lucky.”

The identity of the woman is known to the Ladysmith Gazette, and the recorded message and video footage of the man has been verified by our staff.