Despite several warnings for locals to be vigilant of money scams, there is an increase in the number of people losing their hard-earned cash after falling victim to smooth-talking, fast-acting scam artists.

Police received three complaints on July 15 from residents who have been fooled into parting with their money.
The first incident took place at 7.48am when a woman made a cellphone call to a number she used for cell phone banking.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until the woman made a second call to the same number at about 9am but this time her call was not processed and she called her service provider for answers.

“The woman was surprised to hear that an unknown person had conducted a sim swap the previous day and she was further informed that airtime to the value of R100 was purchased using her number.

She then requested that the service provider block the number to stop any further misuse,” commented police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel TM Mabaso.

But it did not end there… The woman was thereafter informed that R5 000 had been taken from her bank account.
Investigations revealed that the transaction was made in Harding Street.

A case has been opened and police investigations continue. No arrests have been made. In Weenen, a woman was swindled out of R4 950 after a caller, who identified themself as a bank staff member, told the woman that a sum of money was erroneously deducted from her bank account.

The woman was informed that the ‘bank’ would be depositing the money back into the account and she was asked to dial a number from her cellphone.

“Immediately after dialling the number, she received a message on her cellphone informing her that an amount of R4 950 had been deducted from her bank account,” explained Lt Col Mabaso.

The woman was thereafter reassured by the caller that this would be rectified but it did not materialise. A case was opened at the Weenen Police Station, no arrests have been made and investigations continue. The third incident takes us to Harding Street where a woman withdrew R8 000 from a bank.

When she left the bank, she suspected she was being followed and while walking in through an arcade in Albert Street, she felt someone touch her shoulder.

When she turned around, she noticed it was a man she remembered being inside the bank whilst she was withdrawing money.

Shortly thereafter a young man approached her, telling her that he had found a sum of money, which was lying on the floor. The woman advised the young man to report it to the police but he asked her to accompany her to a mobile police station in another part of town.

She agreed and followed him. Whilst walking in Albert Street, a vehicle with three occupants stopped alongside them. The woman noticed that one of the occupants was the man she has seen inside the bank.

They identified themselves as detectives and forced the woman and boy into the vehicle. She was robbed of R9 600 and dumped in Lorne Street. Lt Col Mabaso said that a case was opened and investigations are continuing. No arrests have been made.