‘Hitmen’ aim at heads

'I HAVE been paid to kill you.'

On hearing these chilling words, at least five terrified local school principals have forked out money to prevent the impending 'hit'.

Police have warned principals in the region to avoid falling prey in an ongoing scam by syndicates alleging to having been paid to murder the school heads, but who will relent if the chosen victims part with their own cash.

According to King Cetshwayo Cluster police spokesperson Captain Siyanda Shangase, these syndicates have shown a high level of intelligence.

‘To us, it seems as if they are working in a group because they profile their target before approaching it.

‘Their modus operandi is that they get all the information about their targeted victim and call the person, portraying themselves as hitmen sent by one of the teachers from his or her school.

'This conman would then tell his victim he lives at Glebelands Hostel in Durban. He would further explain to his victim that he had been hired by one of the teachers from the school to kill him or her, saying the teacher wants the principal's position.

'The conman would then say he is sympathetic towards his victim’s family and is prepared to assist him to lay a charge at the police station.

'After that, he would tell his victim he had been paid to kill him, and demand R5 000 to call off the hit. He would then set up a meeting with his victim, but fail to honour that meeting.

‘He then directs his victim to pay via a supermarket money transfer and, once the money has been sent, the conman disappears,’ said Shangase.

He believes this conman is working with a group of individuals, gathering intelligence, as he can tell his victim the make of the car he drives, and the routes and places he visited on previous days.

‘The victim would definitely believe the conman and obey his instructions. We have discovered that these syndicates are operating in this region, uMkhanyakude District, as well as in Polokwane,' said Shangase.

These people use these cellphone numbers when calling their victims: 063 0939438 and 073 9762764.

They recently attempted to con two senior police officers at Empangeni police station.

'A conman called one of our seasoned officers with a telephone number starting with the 051 code,' he said.

'He offered our senior officer a high-ranking position within Saps, saying he was working at the police headquarters in Pretoria.

'Our officer quickly conducted an investigation while he was speaking and discovered the caller was phoning from a Polokwane prison.

'When he divulged that information to him, the man quickly hung up,' said Shangase.

Money scammers have school principals in their sights