Woman shocked to find name used in fake ad

A DURBAN woman went from surprise to sympathy, then anger, on being told her name was being used in a Port Elizabeth student accommodation scam.

Nokwanda Candice Kubheka, 25, said she would lay a fraud complaint this week.

This came after The Herald informed Kubheka that her name was listed on the accommodation scam advert. The Herald reported the scam earlier this month after it popped up on Gumtree in December.

It advertised student accommodation ranging from R2 200 to R2 800 in Summerstrand.

However, the accommodation address, 22 Brighton Drive, is in fact a play park in the same street.

Kubheka, a Unisa student and Ushaka Marine World employee, said she had never left Kwa-Zulu-Natal and did not know anyone in or anything about Port Elizabeth.

“I have never seen this advert. I have never been to PE. I don’t know where this lady got my name. I am lost as to how this happened,” she said.

The advert listed “Candice Kubheka” as the contact person, giving a cell number and e-mail address.

Kubheka said: “That isn’t my cell or e-mail on that advert. I have never even put a ad on Gumtree.

“I don’t know what to say. I will press charges because it seems I fraudulently took money from students. So it is only wise to clear my name.”

The advert was spotted by police and NMMU, who sent an urgent notice on January 12 alerting students.

The address on the accommodation advert was changed that same day, from 22 Brighton Drive to 23 Brighton Drive – the location of Mary de Villiers’s guesthouse, Brighton on 5th.

In less than a week since the advert address was changed, De Villiers said, at least seven unsuspecting students had knocked on her door in search of the advertised accommodation.

Police spokeswoman Colonel Priscilla Naidu said the matter was being investigated.