A young woman has shared a scary detail on Twitter about an apparent scam by criminals.
Thando Ndala said she and her little brother nearly fell for a plan to rob or abduct them in Mamelodi extension 3 on Thursday.
Ndala and her brother were on their way to a shop when they were approached by an Xhosa-speaking woman.
She said she was from Mpumalanga and worked for a charity organisation in Witbank.
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The woman said she needed help to move clothes meant for charity from a nearby house.
Ndala agreed to help after a second woman was also recruited to do so and they walked to the house.
Upon their arrival, the woman said she would call her manager to go in with them as she had to go elsewhere.
“As we stood outside my instincts kicked in and I thought of all the crime, human trafficking and murders,” said Ndala.
She made up a story about having to go to the shops quickly.
“The other recruited woman persuaded us to wait five minutes. During this time the manager approached us.”
The Xhosa-speaking manager acted friendly and asked them to hand over their phones so stickers could be put on them to mark the devices as not being stolen.
The manager told them the sticker would also have the amount they would get paid for their help, which was R120.
Ndala refused and opted to have the sticker on her wrist as she would not hand over her cellphone.
The recruited woman handed over her two cellphones without hesitation.
After a long back and forth, Ndala queried their conduct.
The manager pleaded with her, but Ndala and her brother left.
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As they did so, they spotted a white Toyota Corolla with its hazard lights on.
The recruited woman got into the car and it sped off.
Ndala said: “I think they were planning something sinister. If they were after the phone they could have snatched it without going through the trouble of luring us to a house.”
Police spokesperson Captain Weilbach said many people fell prey to criminals and scammers who they trusted blindly.
Weilbach said both adults and children should be wary.
“Parents should make sure their children inform them before going anywhere with one and when accosted by unknown individuals they should seek help from the SAPS or a trusted adult.”
Ndala’s tweet prompted several people in and out of Pretoria to share stories of similar encounters they had had.
Similar thing/story happened to me in Pretoria North KarenPark and it Was guys this time.😣 https://t.co/VQL0bQefvs
— ManaseMol (@ManaseMol) April 6, 2018
damn glad you got away.a similar incident happened to me in pta Arcadia just down the road from Boston College.some guy approached me claiming he needs help moving stuff into his flat saying he would pay me R150 for my help.
— BoyMelody (@SaneReezy) April 6, 2018
Same thing happened to me, in Arcadia by boston college. Even fake prophets in Pretoria they are alot just to scam u.
— Aunty wama 2000😘 (@MphoKhanye17) April 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/SLZondii/status/982137222546599942
EXACTLY the same thing happened to my sister and cos my sister also refused they eventually grabbed her bag, took out her phones and jumped into this corolla. Funny enough this happened years ago and we located In Jhb clearly they still in business
— Khanyiii (@Khanyiii_) April 6, 2018
Yoh sis😨 the exact same thing happened to me and my sister , but we were stupid enough to give them our phones then she said they are going to enter the house from the back kante there comes a car out of the blue and ran into it . Finding out the house wasn’t even theirs 🚮
— Dras (@Dras_Doobi) April 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/Rethabile_pm/status/982153089200209925
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