Swindler strikes again with house scam
Another woman has become a victim of a house scam in Pretoria.
Corlia Kruger
Another prospective homeowner fell victim to a fraudster selling and renting houses online.
Lida Louw (alias used to protect her identity) claims she fell victim to the same swindler who tricked another woman into paying a deposit on a home nearly two weeks ago before disappearing without a trace.
“This house was for rent in Suiderberg in May. Advertised on the internet as having four bedrooms, two bathrooms, staff quarters and a swimming pool for the low price of R7 500 [per month].”
Louw said, as with his other victim, the swindler kept contact with her on the phone, claiming he was the owner of the house.
“We drove all the way from Limpopo to Pretoria to look at the house one day and found it empty. When I phoned the man he said he was out hunting with people also interested in the house, and said if we still want the house we better act quickly,” said Louw.
Louw said the man exploited the fact that he knew she and her family were moving to Pretoria, and were urgently seeking a residence.
“He told us about all the safety features and there are regular neighbourhood watch patrols in the area.”
The man got his ‘lawyer’ to contact Louw through email to draw up the contract, making it seem more legit. He convinced her to pay the deposit as well as half a month’s rent.
“We arranged for a moving-truck the following week. Everything was packed and ready to go,” Louw said. The swindler kept in touch with her until the day she and her family would move in.
“He was very convincing over the phone and we made arrangements so I could get the key to the house.”
On the last day, as Louw and her family set off behind the truck, she called him again but got no answer.
“When we reached Pretoria he sent a message on WhatsApp saying he was in an accident and was taken to the Zuid-Afrikaanse hospital,” Louw said adding it was then she realised for the first time something was amiss.
“I called the hospital and to my greatest shock and surprise I was told that no such person was brought in – in fact no one was brought in after an accident at all that day.”
Louw discovered that the house she thought she had paid a deposit for was indeed on the market, but another person was the legitimate owner of the house.
She opened a case at the Bela-Bela police station.
“We were told we were the fourth victim of this scam, with this very same house,” said Louw.
“We gave an ID photo we had of the man to police who told us the man had several criminal charges against him, which included assault and driving under the influence of alcohol.”
It is unknown whether the fraudster uses his real identity or fake aliases.
Other house-hunters are warned to watch out for similar scams.
Also read:
Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 072 435 7717.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites:
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram.
- We have exciting news! We’re offering a free alert to help you always be in the loop. Send an email with the word ‘Subscribe’ to breakingnews@rekord.co.za to receive your free daily breaking news update.
