Three suspects who were arrested in connection with fake rental advertisements in Lyttelton have been granted bail after appearing in the Lyttelton Magistrate Court. Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Hero Gumbu said each were granted R3 000 bail and they would appear in court again on 14 May.
According to Gumbu, the first female suspect whose bank account was linked to the scam, was arrested in Centurion at 20:30 a few weeks ago and this led to the arrest of other two male suspects in Sunnyside on the same evening.
Gumbu said the three were facing charges of fraud after they recently conned a woman in Jean Avenue to deposit a cash amount of R10 000 into a bank account before viewing a property. He encouraged members of the public to be vigilant of such scams and avoid falling into a trap as many people were using false information in the form of adverts to trick people.
Councillor Clive Napier of ward 57 said: “I have received reports of people having been subjects of scam operators. I have been a victim myself. Scam operators operate at bank ATMs, through advertisements and via email. Many scams are quite convincing. It is often extremely difficult to distinguish a scam from a genuine communication. Scam items are often sent in the names of official institutions such as banks and the South African Revenue Service. The problem is how to distinguish a scam from a genuine communication. One needs to be extremely vigilant by – before accepting an offer – follow it up with a phone call to check whether it is genuine. Furthermore, our security establishment needs to develop new skills in tracking down scam artists and possibly penalties should be drastically increased including heavy fines, jail sentences and deportations where foreigners are involved,” .
