Cap Johannes Ramphora of the Springs police says the high rate of theft and scams taking place in the CBD is concerning, hence they are pleading with locals to be more vigilant.
One of the cases being investigated is that of a 68-year-old woman who was scammed of her money on March 14. The scam was run by men posing as policemen who said they were trying to help her.
“While the woman was on her way to the Springs Taxi Rank she was smeared with a black ointment by some unknown male, and as she asked the man what he was doing, another man appeared, claiming that the same thing had just been done to him.
“Shortly after that, two males claiming to be cops who had just seen what had happened to the old lady and the man arrived in a brown car.
“The complainant claims that the two bogus cops were not dressed in uniform but had produced police cards and told her and the other guy to get into their car, as they were trying to help,” says Ramphora.
The bogus cops then allegedly took out toilet paper and told them to wipe their hands and clean themselves.
Next they started to question the two about the amount of money they had at home and in their bank accounts.
“The elderly woman told the bogus cops that she had R1 800 at home and about R60 000 in the bank, while the other male seemingly just shared he had cash, but it is unclear whether he disclosed the amount or not.
“The suspects told the woman that they should go with her to her house to fetch her bank card and return to Springs so she could withdraw the money, and she agreed.
“They then went back to town where she withdrew R40 000 and gave it to the men along with her bank card,” says Ramphora.
The complainant claims these bogus police told her they would multiply this money by putting it in a scanner. They then gave her an envelope and told her to only open it the next day.
Afterwards they gave her R50 to get home, telling her to wait there as they would bring the rest of the money to her the following day.
The next day, seeing that the ‘cops’ were not coming, she called them, but there was no response.
When the elderly woman finally opened the envelope, she realised that it just contained paper but no money.
She claims that on the same day she also received an SMS from her bank saying an additional R9 000 had been withdrawn from her account. She went to Springs Police Station to open a case of theft.
Ramphora confirms that no arrests have been made.
