Pensioner robbed of her cellphone
Conned: “This young man is medium built and medium height, he could be 30 years old, and he said his name is Herman Lourens.”
REUVEN – Mrs Maloney, a resident of Reuven Complex, Old Age Home, is heartbroken and disappointed over an incident that happened a few days ago.
Her Blackberry cellphone, a Christmas gift from her daughter, was stolen from her flat. She is even more distressed and concerned that all the cherished and treasured information, cell numbers and pictures of family and friends from local and overseas are all gone.
Mrs Maloney said that a young white man, shabbily dressed looking poor and untidy, asked her about the whereabouts of a male resident living at Reuven. She showed him where he lives but said he is not there at the moment.
“I felt so sorry for this young man, I gave him some clothes and shoes, which I thought would fit him. The following day, he came to show me, how nicely the clothes and shoes fit, and appeared to be so proud and pleased with himself, and it made me feel good, I thanked God for using me as a channel for reaching out to this man,” said Mrs Maloney
The following day, this young man again came to ask Mrs Maloney for a R100 to buy food for his wife and two boys, age two and nine years, she gave him the money and he left. The following day he told Mrs Maloney that he was offered a job in Florida, he needed money for transport, she gave him the last of her money.
Mrs Maloney said, “He thanked me and left, I wished him success with the new job, and he left, a few minutes later, I went to check whether my cellphone was fully charged, only to find that the phone was missing, it was disconnected from the charger. I could not believe my eyes, I searched all over the place, hoping I would find it, but to no avail. I felt disappointed and let-down, I felt deeply hurt, I could not believe that this young man could do such a thing to me. That was the last time I saw him.”
Another resident told Mrs Maloney, she experienced the same thing, she was approach by a man with the same description and later her purse and watch disappeared.
“My story is to warn people, especially the elderly, to be careful not to trust just anyone, or to give strangers access to their homes or to believe their stories,” said Mrs Maloney.
