Loving boyfriend “scams” woman out of R160 000
A man “scammed” a woman out of R160 000 by pretending to be her loving boyfriend.
The woman, who wants to stay anonymous, told www.mobserver.co.za that she wants to warn other women not to fall for the charming “Mike”, as he called himself.
She met “Mike” about two months ago in Middelburg, and things quickly became “very serious”.
He told her that he was a foreigner from Madagascar and had a business in Elukwatini.
“He could speak a little bit of Zulu, but we spoke English with each other most of the time,” she said.
“Mike” overwhelmed her with his charming nature, and she quickly trusted him. After a few weeks, he told her that he wanted to open a business with her, but he couldn’t apply for a loan on his own because he was a foreigner.
“He could not produce three months’ bank statements and said that I must make a loan for the business.”
She made the loan of R160 000, and he asked her immediately to withdraw R100 000. Thereafter, it was smaller amounts up to March 24, when she only had R4 900 left in the bank account.
That specific morning he told her that he was coming to her house in Hlalamnandi to have breakfast with her.
“He asked if I had R400 cash with me because he wanted to buy something. I did not have any cash on me and gave him my bank card. I still trusted him.”
After a while, he even called her and asked if he could buy anything for the breakfast they would be having. At first, she asked him to bring bread but informed him later that it was not necessary because there was bread in the house.
Later that morning, she received a bank SMS showing that her bank account had been emptied, “He only left R16 in the account for me!”
She tried to call several times and also sent him WhatsApp messages, but it seems that he blocked her phone.
The next day he read her messages and contacted her, “He only said he was sorry and promised to pay me back. I never heard from him again.”
• Last week she went to the police station, where the police told her she could open a case of theft.
• She described Mike as a tall man, extremely dark in colour and with a protruding forehead.
• If anybody knows where “Mike” might be, call 081 876 4340.
