Special report – Scams that scar

Robbery, rape, murder . . . they’re not what we bargain for when we answer an ad for a job, agree to drinks with an online ‘friend’, or seek spiritual guidance from a pastor. But they’re what too many women get. Learning to spot a scam could save your mon

In February this year, a young Joburg woman desperate for work joined the many posting profiles on Gumtree. Hope soared when she received a response from a man informing her he was a recruitment official for the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Pretoria, and requesting to meet in the CBD for a job interview.

Her hope continued to climb when Steven, as he introduced himself, checked and approved her CV, and set up a second meeting in Pretoria. It was not at the CSIR premises, he told her, because security there was tight – he would pick her up in the city and take her.

She gratefully accepted, but when he arrived he explained that the meeting had been cancelled as the CSIR directors were away. Her disappointment turned to confusion when he drove her to a B&B instead. Then he told her that to get the job, she must go with him to his room.

That’s when alarm bells finally went off: she refused, and he began dragging her out of the car. It was only when a gardener working nearby came to investigate the noise that the terrified woman escaped.

The CSIR has spoken out on the incident, concerned at scammers using its name. Media manager David Mandaha explained that “CSIR vacancies are advertised in mainstream newspapers and are available on our website and promoted through the CSIR official social media platforms. Any meetings pertaining to the recruitment process after one has applied for a position advertised on any of these platforms will take place at the CSIR offices.”

He urged victims of such scams to report to their nearest police station. But for many women it is too late – women like the victims of Thabo Bester, the man dubbed the Facebook rapist, then the Facebook murderer, when it was discovered he had also killed his girlfriend in a Milnerton guesthouse in September 2013. Bester stalked young women on Facebook and lured them to hotel rooms with offers of modelling and TV careers.

In the case of a part-time Joburg model of 24, he slashed her face then sped away from the Umhlanga City Lodge where he had taken her, in her silver-blue Peugeot 206. Bester was finally arrested after challenging police on Facebook to catch him if they could, and is serving 30 years for raping and robbing two models in Durban, and life for murder.

Bester’s scamming methods have been used by a number of men – most recently, Sedzani Muthuhadini Ndou of Mamelodi, who used a picture of a handsome soccer star in his online profile to lure young women into meeting him at a supermarket. When they arrived, he would tell them he was a family member of the star, who was running late and had asked him to take them to the star’s home. Ndou would lead the women through a park or take them to deserted spots, where he would pounce.

From 2016 to 2017 he raped five women before one victim set him up and he was caught in a police sting. He pleaded guilty to 11 counts of rape (some victims were raped more than once) and to stealing their cellphones and money. Many of the women were forced to have oral sex with him before he raped them.

“Most serial offenders don’t use such a sophisticated means to obtain victims,” says Dr Gérard Labuschagne, an investigative forensic psychologist in Pretoria, and former section head of the Investigative Psychology Section in the SAPS. “In reality, people are more in danger from someone who simply approaches them on the street offering them work, which is the most common method of operation for serial rapists and serial murderers. The internet and social media is just a tool to commit the crime – their goals aren’t different from other sexual predators, just the means.”

But it’s an increasingly common means, as cybercrime and scams soar globally, largely through the spread of social networking.

WHY WE’RE SCAMMED

“Digital platforms such as Facebook bring an element of peer endorsement,” says Vanessa Clark, a technology writer who co-founded Mobiflock (now Mobile Guardian), a parental control service for smartphones and tablets. “If it looks like one of your friends has recommended something or you have a mutual ‘friend’, your guard is lowered and you’re more likely to accept a proposal or invitation you wouldn’t ordinarily.”

Online sales and employment platforms too can give a sense of legitimacy – you see all the other people applying or offering jobs, and there’s a feeling of being in a shared, acceptable public space.

Many scammers are also masters at projecting themselves as extremely charming – although in South Africa they don’t have to be charming, people just have to believe they can give them a job, Labuschagne says. “Some psychopaths can be particularly good at manipulating and conning people,” he adds. They use charisma and can be verbally entrancing, making you feel at the centre of the universe, and they have no conscience or sense of guilt.

The fact that Ndou was very kind to his victims, had a friendly personality and befriended some of them for almost a year on social media before trying to meet them, made him even more dangerous, said prosecutor Cornelia Harmzen at his trial.

The same applies to scammers who profess to be people of God, and use the guise of religion to prey on women. There have been a number of incidents of pastors in conventional or pentecostal churches, traditional healers, swamis and others using the authority and trust that goes with their position to manipulate young women into having sex – or joining what turn out to be cults motivated by profit, sexual appetite or power. “They target vulnerable victims, which makes it easier to manipulate them,” says Labuschagne. “A master manipulator targets the weakest possible victim.”

This is now so widespread that in March this year, a march

Resilience comes with taking care of yourself – taking time to reflect and build on your experiences, so you can counteract some of the trauma, begin to heal

was held at the offices of the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL) in Braamfontein to protest against false pastors and prophets.

Among the marchers was Tinyiko Masemola, who told the press she had been unable to find work. A visiting pastor convinced her the reason was that the pastor of her current church was making her “spiritually bound” and that her husband was bad luck.

The visiting pastor ended up moving into the home Masemola shared with her parents, starting a church and praying for people in the garage. “I sort of became the wife while I was not the wife,” she told Times Live. It was only when she still failed to land a job in spite of all this, that she ended her relationship with him.

But this was a minor scam compared to the one of which 59-year-old Nigerian pastor Timothy Omotoso is accused. At press time, he was about to stand trial (in late July 2018) on multiple charges of contravening the Sexual Offences Act, in connection with the alleged rape and trafficking of more than 30 women and girls, some as young as 13. A female accomplice is accused of helping recruit girls from around the country to live at his home in Umhlanga.

Equally disturbing, also in March, after five police officers and a soldier were killed in a shoot-out with members of the Mancoba Seven Angels Ministry at a police station at Ncobo in the Eastern Cape, social workers and police removed what police commissioner General Khehla Sithole described as “not less than 100” girls and young women aged from 12 to 21 from the ministry. They were allegedly kept as part of a cult headed by the seven church leaders, who saw themselves as angels sent by God, and were allegedly indoctrinated, brainwashed and possibly used as sex slaves.

CRL chairperson Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva labelled the situation in South Africa regarding churches being turned into cults “a state of emergency”. At a discussion to address such concerns, Professor Maria Frahm-Arp from the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Johannesburg said people caught up in cults and sects were not stupid, but “strategic”.

Youth unemployment stood at 52% at the end of last year and there was widespread economic hardship, she said. “People become willing to do extraordinary things for prosperity. They end up doing sexually provocative things, very often with the pastor, drinking petrol to expel evil, eating grass and snakes to be blessed. Young people, especially women, get to a stage of giving up everything they have, wanting to gain more.”

HOW TO STAY SAFE

The best way to avoid any scam, whether it promises a job, a bargain buy or salvation in exchange for sex, is to be aware of the warning signs. And if you awake to these too late, to immediately report your experience, so you can get help and support, and stop other women being similarly scammed.

SIGNS OF A CULT

Red flags include any of these, says Frahm-Arp:

The religious group or individual is opposed to critical thinking. They try to isolate you or other members and threaten to penalise you for leaving.

They emphasise a special doctrine.

They seek inappropriate loyalty (such as you cutting yourself off from family and friends).

They dishonour family units.

Take action: Get out quietly but quickly, and get help. You can contact the CRL at 011 358 9100, or download a complaint form at www.crlcommission.org.za. If you were abused, call POWA (People Opposing Woman Abuse) 011 642 4345, LifeLine 0861 322 322, Famsa 031 202 8987 or 021 447 7951, the Family Life Centre 011 788-4784 or the SA Depression and Anxiety Group 0800 21 22 23, SMS 31319.

SIGNS OF A SEXUAL OR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PREDATOR

Recognising “pre-incident indicators” can help you avoid a dangerous person, says international violence and security expert Gavin de Becker, author of The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us From Violence. Be on your guard if: Someone implies he has something in common with you, or you have a shared problem, and speaks as “we”, (this is “forced teaming ”, says De Becker).

He uses friendliness, flattery and politeness to disarm, charm and manipulate you.

He overdoes the details – an indication of lying and trying to sound more credible.

He insists on secrecy and wants to have online or phone conversations in private.

He asks for personal information early – your full name, birthday, address, where you’re studying for working. He knows things about you that you haven’t told him (he may have been stalking you online).

He asks lots of questions, to draw you in.

He always agrees with you, to get your trust.

He tries to make you feel vulnerable, asking things like “What’s wrong?” or “Tell me why you’re sad/ angry?” telling you he understands and you can turn to him for anything. He puts himself down to encourage you to contradict him: “You think you’re too good to talk to someone like me”. He tries to turn you against others, telling you they don’t understand or appreciate you as he does.

He ignores any attempt at rejection.

Take action: “A lot of these signs are seen in the normal relationship-building process,” says Labuschagne. The key is to be alert and listen to your gut. If you’re uncomfortable, politely and firmly say no to what he suggests, and keep saying it. And get away. Ignore his calls or messages. If need be, report him to the SAPS, and get support from an organisation like POWA (see above).

SIGNS OF AN ONLINE PREDATOR

He’ll often start by seeing your picture on Facebook, then befriend and groom you, before arranging to meet, says Craig Rosewarne, MD of Wolfpack Information Risk in Johannesburg. Some predators actively fish for victims, posting scam job offers or advertising services designed to lure young, innocent or desperate women, as Ndou and Bester did.

SIGNS TO WATCH:

As for a sexual predator above, his profile picture will often show someone particularly good-looking. “Remember, some predators post attractive fake images to lure young women,” Rosewarne says.

Take action: Preventive steps are best. Whether responding to a job offer or buying something online, ask questions before you meet and use the Internet to check what you are told. “If you arrange to meet someone for an interview or sale, take a friend with you,” says Cape Town self-defence expert Sanette Smit. Don’t meet at your home, you could be robbed or raped (then or later). Carry quality mace or a self-defence weapon. Tell someone you trust where you’re going and when you’ll be back. If you must meet at home (to sell your flat or a large appliance), ask to see personal ID, have someone with you, and have a panic button. “Project a positive and assertive energy,” Smit says. “And trust your intuition: get away immediately you feel uncomfortable.” Always report incidents to the police, to the website that carried the classified, and to the National Consumer Commission, 012 428 7726, or visit www.thencc.gov. za for a complaints form and for contact details of provincial Consumer Affairs offices.

SIGNS OF AN ONLINE FINANCIAL SCAM

“The overwhelming majority of online transactions pass off safely,” says Claire Cobbledick, head of core business for Gumtree SA. “But as platforms sharpen their security and new players enter the market, new scams are created. Fortunately these are fairly easy to identify.” Cobbledick says beware if:

A potential buyer asks you to delete your ad or communicate only by WhatsApp – this makes it hard for the platform to track your communication, Cobbledick says. “Work through the brand app or platform only, and keep your ad active until the item is sold. Don’t provide your direct e-mail address or phone number.”

He claims to work offshore. “Be extra suspicious if someone refuses to communicate via Skype, or claims they don’t have phone access.”

He asks for personal information not related to the item, such as your bank account details or ID number. “These are possibly data scammers,” she says.

He refers to your ad in vague terms as “the item”. Chances are he’s just trawling the internet looking for an easy target. He hounds you to make a decision or a payment. “Don’t be pressured,” Cobbledick says. Make your checks. He uses bad spelling, foreign phone numbers, or refuses to share information.

He requests payment in advance, perhaps for “transport costs” – pay only on receipt of goods, says Sharon Knowles, a digital innovator in Cape Town with many years in fraud prevention.

Take action: If in any doubt, Cobbledick says, back out and report your suspicions to the site so they can follow up. “Our help desk, help.gumtree.co.za, operates 24/7. Any confirmed fraudulent activity must also be reported to the SAPS.”