BEREA SAPS warns old age homes in the area about a young con woman who is targeting the elderly.
According to Capt Poobalan Naidoo, the woman approaches the elderly, pretending to be a nurse or physiotherapist.
“When they ask for her assistance she asks them to remove their jewellery and she works on them. When they leave the room for something she takes the jewellery, cash, laptops, cellphones and any other valuables and disappears. There are a few cases reported at Berea SAPS,” he said.
The chief operating officer (COO) at one of the old age homes said last Friday the woman gained access to the home after telling a security guard that she was there to see a particular resident.
“She used a real resident’s surname which perhaps could have been seen in the sign in book. I could not ask that particular resident whether she knows this woman as she has dementia and would not remember. It seems from the camera footage that the con artist did not go near her part of the building regardless. Thus, I do not suspect the resident of being involved,” she said.
The woman said from camera footage, she appears to be a young Indian woman, (early twenties), has dark hair, wears modern clothing such as jeans and long sleeve tops, and wears a head scarf which concealed some of her features.
“She walked around the home for a bit and chose a room where the resident left the door open and was in the bathroom. The resident returned and the con artist said that she was there to take the resident’s blood pressure. She asked the resident to hold out her arm and turn her palm to the ceiling. She placed a small disc on the resident’s wrist and said that she needed to remove the resident’s watch and rings to take her blood pressure. She then said that the resident needed to keep still for the disk to work. She then left the room with her rings and watch and quickly left the building,” she said.
The COO said the resident laid a charge with the police and she has provided footage of the thief.
The manager of another home said the woman had ‘hit’ their building last Wednesday.
She was well spoken and neatly dressed and chose a flat number from the visitors’ book.
“She tried two flats, offering pain therapy, but was turned away, however the third resident said she had pain in her foot. The woman made the pensioner lie on her bed and put gel and straps on her foot, but told her to take off her jewellery. After she had done the massage, she told the resident she would have to write a letter saying she had received the treatment, as this was the only way she got paid. While the resident was writing, she slipped back into the bedroom and took her tablet, cellphone and two pouches of jewellery, and left the building,” he said.
He said the resident couldn’t believe how gullible she had been, however the woman was believable and a ‘cool operator.’
“The fact she was wearing a scarf and sunglasses makes it difficult to identify her, and the police can’t really do much. It is so bad that someone would do this to vulnerable old people,” he said.
Capt Naidoo said Berea SAPS appeals for any other victims to report any further cases.
