Two women ‘saved’ by our story on online scams

A CHANCE glimpse at The Independent on Saturday (IoS) last week saved a Durban woman caught in a romance scam, thousands of rand.

Last week’s story highlighted two Durban women scammed of their money, believing it was a normal cash transaction between them and the men with whom they had developed an online relationship. Neither their money, nor the relationship, materialised.

This week, Priya (not her real name), said she had already spent thousands of rand for a “parcel” that was yet to be delivered to her, and was mulling over a request to deposit more cash for the parcel, when she saw the article.

“It confirmed my suspicions that something was not right. I had not told anyone about this and when I read about the details of how the women were scammed, I realised it was the same situation I was in.”

Altogether, she said, she lost about R23 000.

Judy (not her real name), said after sending her new “love interest” cellphones, a laptop and money, she was R600 000 out of pocket, which also included some money that went missing from her bank account.

“I have never spoken about this to anyone before. I have kept the lines of communication open hoping that I can get my money back,” she said.

The women are trying to get evidence to open a police case.

SAPS spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala said such scams have been well documented.

“However, people still do fall for these scams and are willing to hand over their cash and belongings to con artists. We do hope that attempts to highlight the prevalence will bear fruit and minimise the number of people that fall victims to such con artists.”