A Lonehill resident was tricked off their phone on Friday last week. The resident was approached at Lonehill Park by a couple that claimed to be meeting a buyer who was interested in looking at some diamonds she had to sell.
The female suspect offered the victim a ‘cut’ in the deal if he took her to the Lonehill Shopping Centre where she had met with the ‘buyer’ since her partner in crime had to remain at the park.
According to Shelly Miller of the Lonehill Residents Association (LRA), both the suspect and the resident walked to the centre and met with the ‘buyer’ to inspect the diamond and negotiate the price.
After negotiating, they returned to the park to discuss the offer with her partner that told the victim that he did not trust him to complete the deal and bring back the money, so he and the female suspect had to leave their phones with him until they returned with the money. When they returned to the centre, the buyer was gone and so was the partner with the phones at the park. The female accomplice then ran off and the resident was left without his phone.
LRA’s marketing and communications manager, Shelly Miller, urges residents to be careful with their belongings when dealing with strangers in the area. “We encourage residents and employers to warn their families and staff to be aware of these and similar con artists, they should be warned not to allow a stranger to use their phone, or to leave their personal belongings with someone they do not know. They should report suspicious behaviour and activity immediately to the closest Fidelity Security Officer who will use his radio to alert reaction officers,” said Miller.
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