‘Do not be scammed in the name of love’: Crime experts say romance scams have increased dramatically
As the festive season draws near, the South African Police Service (SAPS) this week released chilling crime statistics which show that commercial crime is significantly increasing across South Africa.
Police Minister Senzo Mchunu released the second quarter crime statistics which show a slight decrease in serious crime in the period between July and September this year.
However, criminals seem to be changing tack, as commercial crime recorded a whopping 18.5%, according to the results released by Mchunu.
IOL has been running the scammed series, where numerous South African women have now joined hands, speaking out against the rampant romance scams.
The women who are often breadwinners in their households, are left destitute, emotionally traumatised, with some women reportedly committing suicide after being scammed.
In July, IOL reported that a Gauteng mother in her 50s is ruing the day she met the man who became her lover for about a year, before he disappeared with her pension lump sum of R2.8 million, leaving her and her two sons without enough to eat.
Speaking to IOL in Tshwane, outspoken anti-crime activist and presenter of Crime Watch on eNCA and eTV, Yusuf Abramjee said these scams are going up and up.
“The criminals are trying to become more creative and more innovative. The recent crime statistics show that commercial crime is on the increase. We know that this time of the year, especially in the run-up to Christmas and New Year, these criminals are trying to make a quick buck.
“They are trying everything from romance scams where women are conned to other scams where criminals claim to be police officials who call you, threatening an arrest and wanting an eWallet in trying to make a few rands. One must be very, very alert.
“Well done to the team at IOL for exposing the romance scams. Yes, many of them (the scams) involve the kingpins who are foreign nationals. The special crime unit of the police must come down very hard on the suspects. I am getting complaints almost every week from members of the public who have been scammed, they do not know what to do, they are scared to open criminal charges,” he said.
Abramjee said it is important that every person who falls victim to any form of scam opens a criminal case.
He said police officers must not dismiss the victims of scams, but each case must be followed through until the criminals face justice.
“The prosecuting authority needs to make sure that these people are not granted bail. The detectives must be very thorough in their investigations to make sure that these people are arrested and not only arrested, but convicted. This is part of organised crime syndicates. These people specialise in various fields, trying to make money,” said Abramjee.
In July, IOL reported that police in North West launched a manhunt for an audacious scammer who targeted a woman, who was a captain the SAPS, pursued a romantic relationship with her, and later conned her of almost R3 million.
During the romantic relationship, the Ugandan national pretended to be a medical doctor, and swindled the unsuspecting police captain, aged 53.
Commenting on the dramatic rise in commercial crime, particularly romance scams where women are defrauded, forensics and crime expert Calvin Rafadi said the scammed series on IOL has unravelled the rampant romance scams and given more women the confidence to come out and speak.
“First of all, I want to thank IOL News for running the scammed series because not only did it open the eyes of many women to come forward, but even myself I have been called to many interviews to explain thoroughly regarding what IOL has been covering. I can tell you, many women thank you, as IOL, as many were about to fall victim and those who fell victim have come forward to open cases,” he said.
Rafadi said when women visit police stations to report fraudulent activities, they must be treated by police officers with sensitivity.
“The police must register the cases and the cases must be transferred by the detective commanders to the commercial crime where there is a unit which deals with the 419 scams. The police should be reminded that as they investigate these types of matters, anybody who has benefited money in those third-party accounts must be held accountable.
“People must stop participating in harbouring these people, lending them bank accounts to be used. Once police are investigating, they come to those particular bank account holders, then you are liable for a crime of money laundering the amount which came into your account,” he said.
Last week, IOL reported that businesswoman Mmakgomo Doris Ngcobo, 42, appeared in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court in Ekurhuleni after she was arrested on charges of fraud amounting to R2 million.
Ngcobo was arrested by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, also known as the Hawks. She is accused by different victims of romance scams of being central to the fraudulent scheme where the victims were defrauded and left nursing heartaches.
Ngcobo appeared alongside her co-accused, two Ugandan nationals, Derrick Nsubuga, 34, and Nassazi Joan, 31.
“Three fraudsters who were arrested on November 15, following the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime investigation into their role in a fraudulent dating scam are expected back in court on Monday, December 9, for a bail hearing,” said Gauteng Hawks spokesperson, Captain Lloyd Ramovha.
Ngcobo is also implicated in another case, and prosecutor Alistair Appel told the court that the Limpopo woman, Ngcobo, and her co-accused were involved in romance scams amounting to R2 million.
IOL