Bogus animal lover cons Durban North vets

A YOUNG, well-spoken and friendly scamster is on the prowl in the Durban North area conning pet stores and vet practices out of hundreds of rands.

One of the staff members at La Lucia Vet, who did not want to be named, said a young man, in his mid 20s, visited their practice on Tuesday, 15 July inquiring about pet inoculations and dog food.
“He filled in all our forms and said he would get his father to make an electronic funds transfer (EFT) for the dog food and inoculation,” she said.

He then went back to the practice, with a proof of payment made for the dog food and collects the bag of food. 
The scamster then goes to another vet or shop with the dog food he falsely purchased at another practice and tells staff there that he bought the dog food, but does not need it anymore. They then refund him the money, which ranges from R500 to R700 for a good dog food brand, and he disappears.

La Lucia Vet said they realised something was amiss when the young man, who goes by the false name of Sifiso Dlamini, didn’t return the next day for his pet’s inoculation.

“Our vet then tried calling him on the number he gave us, which was also false. The vet then went to the home address the man provided, but there was no one there by that name,” the employee said.
They then contacted their bank to check if a payment was made from a Capitec account, only to find out the account was non-existent.

It is believed a number of local vets have fallen victim to the scamster since the beginning of the year, with Northway Vet being scammed as well.Staff at La Lucia Vet said the man also tried his luck at Riverside Vet, but fortunately they already notified staff at that branch of the scamster.