New scams doing the rounds
The Florida Police Station warns that a concerning number of people are falling for scams.
Scammers are once again hard at work conning Florida residents out of their hard-earned cash.
This is according to Lieutenant Colonel Sipho Dlamini, who says the Florida Police Station is again seeing a rise in scams within their policing precinct.
“Many scams are currently doing the rounds,” says Dlamini. “Despite our regular warnings to residents to always be cautious, people are falling prey to these scammers at alarming rates and losing a lot of money; sometimes all their money.”
Dlamini says that Facebook Marketplace scams are still the most prevalent.
“People see a bargain on Facebook Marketplace and are convinced by the seller to deposit money via cellphone transfers and other largely untraceable platforms, and then disappear.
“It is the same modus operandi we have seen a hundred times over, yet people still fall for it.”
Dlamini emphasises that if something seems too good to be true, it usually is.
“Other scams that have risen to prominence lately have to do with housing.
“RDP scams, where people claim to be selling an RDP house or unit at a very low price, only to disappear with the money once the victims realise they are being scammed, has become commonplace.
“Scammers would advertise an RDP property at a very low price and would convince people to pay a deposit to submit the relevant documents.
“A short while later they would demand a further amount once the make-believe registration is complete.
“The scammers would string people along demanding payments for different things, which all sounds very plausible. This would carry on until the victim finally realises that the RDP house does not exist.”
Dlamini says another popular property-related scam, is where people are promised that their names will be moved up the list for placement in an RDP house.
“Scammers pretend to be working for the Department of Human Settlements and demand money from people to bypass the RDP list, only to disappear with the money.”
Dlamini has once again urged residents to apply caution.
“If you are not 100% sure, do not pay money for it,” he warns.
