Police urge residents to be more vigilant and look out for three African foreign nationals, usually two men and a woman who are allegedly scamming people.
According to Linden Police Station spokesperson, Sergeant Takalani Sibiya, three cases of similar incidents have been opened at the police station.
The modus operandi is allegedly occurring at busy shopping centres with two men and a woman who usually ask their victims to assist them with counting the money.
The suspects also pretend not to know where the foreign banks are. “While you assist them they would rob you of your belongings,” she said.
In one incident, the victim was at a coffee shop when a woman and a man approached her.
They asked if she could assist them count their money as they are foreigners. “While the complainant was helping the lady count the money, the man took the complainant’s cellphone that was on the table and they both disappeared,” she said.
The victim only realised later that her cellphone had been stolen and subsequently went to the control room to view video footage and she was told that the man took the cellphone and the two got inside a vehicle. “However, the complainant was not given the registration number.”
Police said in another incident the victim was at a mall when she was approached by a black woman and man who asked if she had some money as they had foreign currency from Zambia.
The suspect was allegedly tricked to give her cellphone to the man, as she was asked to hold a piece of jewellery. “After giving her cellphone to them, he [man] walked away in the opposite direction from the female who disappeared into the crowd,” she said.
The police indicated that the man is 1.70m tall, dark in complexion, slender and he was wearing a black top and a black jeans while the female is 1.5m tall, light in complexion and a bit chubby as identified by the complainant.
In another incident at the same mall, two black men approached a victim while she was walking and asked her where they could exchange their money and the complainant referred them to a nearby bank.
They allegedly told her that they had already been there and were referred to a different bank.
They asked where they could find the bank, when the victim told them that it was somewhere in Braamfontein, they subsequently ask if she could check how much an e-hailing service would cost them to the area.
The victim then sat down and put her plastic bag with cosmetics on the ground and she searched, they also searched with their phones. One suspect asked her for a cellphone to search, while focusing on him, she then realised that the other suspect had left with her plastic bag.
“While she was trying to stop the one with the cosmetics, the other suspect walked away with her cellphone. The suspect that took the cellphone is Zimbabwean and he was speaking in Shona.
“If anyone comes across these persons, kindly notify the police or security at the mall.”
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