Beware of stand scam
The CPF in Lotus Gardens warns the community about the fraudulent sale of stands in the area.
The Community Policing Forum (CPF) has warned members of the Lotus Gardens community to be aware of a scam involving the sale of stands in the area. Scammers advertise the stands on the internet and potential buyers are then asked to deposit the money for the stand via the money market into the seller’s account. However, those selling the stands do not actually own them, they only pretend to, making this an act of fraud. The scam has been going on for a while now.
“Recently there was a woman that came here with R10 000 in cash to see the stand and go deposit the money. She asked me about the stand and I told her that it was a municipal stand,” Jackson Masiteng from the Lotus Gardens CPF said.
He added that there was often a vehicle parked close to the stand and said he suspected these vehicles belonged to the criminals.
“I took the woman home because she was carrying a lot of money. Many people have been coming here to enquire about these stands and they are all told to deposit the money via the money market.”
It is alleged that the fraudsters claim they are in Sandton, so they are unable to meet with potential buyers, and that they use various contact numbers that they later cannot be reached on. Masiteng told of another incident where a man who had R80 000 on him came to look at the stands wanting to make a deposit.
“There are a lot of stands in Lotus Gardens and we do not know what is happening with them. When you want to buy a stand, there is always problems,” Tsietsi Steba from the CPF mentioned. The Tshwane metro was contacted for comment, but failed to respond by the time of going to print.
