Pretoria West police warned residents about scammers in local shopping centre

Pretoria West police have called on shoppers at Quagga Shopping Centre to be wary of scammers who have been scamming unsuspecting shoppers.

Victims of the scammers told Rekord that they were scammed by people who pretended to be personnel from an international cellular and telecommunications company.

Daniel Segabutla, who fell victim to the scammers, said he was scammed out of R4 000 after he allowed a suspected scammer to use his phone.

“They were carrying sims card and they were wearing black pants and white shirts. They asked me if I use the cellular network they claimed to represent and I said ‘yes’. They then asked for my phone to check if qualify for a voucher.”

“They told me I have points worth R5 000 that I can use at Shoprite but for them to access the points, I needed to send R200. I did not have it on me so they asked me to send it to them via an account.”

“I think that is when they saw my pin. He then requested me to give him the phone so he could activate the voucher for me but instead, he was sending money to his account.”

Segabutla said he only recognised that his money had been stolen when he went to a garage to pour petrol but it was too late to reverse the transaction.

“I wanted to send the money into another account but there was nothing. I quickly went to the bank but unfortunately, the money had already been withdrawn.”

“They sent R3 000 to an account and then sent R1 000 cash-send to some number. I have since opened the case with the police.”

He said he is still finding it difficult to accept what happened to him.

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“I am still not OK, they stole money I have been working hard for. I am looking after my grandchildren whose mother passed away, so this has affected me badly.”

Another victim Annah said she was also approached the same way Segabutla was approached.

“The male told me that I needed to give R290 to access the Shoprite voucher but I refused.

“I told his female accomplice that she did not tell me I would have to pay money for whatever they were doing on my phone. They even tried to force me to go to the bank and withdraw the money but I refused.”

Pretoria West police spokesperson constable Sibongile Vuma said police have opened cases relating to these incidents.

Vuma said some of the scammers pretend to be schoolers who want to make a phone call to their uncle who is supposed to fetch them.

“After you give them your phone, they will pretend like they are sending a message but what they actually doing hacking your accounts. What they also do is send themselves airtime if they can not access your account.”

Vuma said the public is advised not to assist anyone at the mall.

“They should refer them to the nearest police station for assistance or ask the security for assistance.

Reginal Marketing Manager Elizma said no incidents of this nature had ever been reported to the centre security.

“Security is very vigilant in terms of theft and scammers. They communicate with the centre operations and liaise with police for intervention if needed.”

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