Durban resident loses R5k in online love scam

Durban North police said they have seen an increase in cases of online fraud.

This after a woman was scammed out of R5 000 by a man she allegedly fell in love with online, Northglen News reported.

Durban North police spokesperson Captain Raymond Deokaran said a case of fraud had been opened.

According to the report, the man claimed he was from the UK and was going to transfer a large some of money to South Africa.

“The local resident met the man online who claimed he was from the UK and they fell in love. He said he was going to send her R20 000 via a courier company. She was then contacted by the ‘courier company’ who said they had received a package with money in it. They claimed it was money laundering and that she would have to deposit money to release the sum. The suspects asked for R5 000 which the local resident deposited into their account.

“The scam artists then tried to get the resident to deposit more money and asked for more than R80 000. The resident then opened a case of fraud at the station. We are seeing more and more of these cases and are warning residents to please be wary of these types of scams. If it seems to too good to be true, in most cases it is,” he said.

Deokaran urged residents who were scammed in similar circumstances to come forward and open a case.

“Last month we had a resident lose R6 000 in an online pedigree dog scam. While many online sellers are legitimate, some use the anonymous platform of some sites to scam unsuspecting shoppers,” he said.

– Caxton News Service

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