A local business owner has come forward to urge fellow business owners to be vigilant after he fell victim to theft under the guise of the suspects being interested customers.
The cabinet maker and furniture restorer said he both regular and new customers visit his business daily.
So, when a BMW came to his house with two unknown faces it didn’t come as a surprise.
The suspects, one said to be in his 70s and the other his late 30s, were said to have been very interested in the products the business made and wanted a piece of furniture done and ready for collection in a couple of days.
After talks of business, the elderly suspect asked to use the bathroom after which he proceeded to pay compliments to the business owner for his beautiful home as he looked out the window and into other rooms.
The suspect then managed to get the business owner to the back of the house where he claimed to be very interested in how their borehole works.
It was in this time that the second suspect also asked to use the bathroom and he allegedly stole a laptop and a GPS navigation system.
As he has dealt with many customers before it was easy for the victim to believe that these two suspects were just as trustworthy as many others he has serviced before.
Constable Takalani Matumba of Linden Police Station said although they do not experience these cases often, she advised people who run businesses at home to not allow customers to enter their homes but have them designated to where their business is operated.
She also advised people with domestic workers to tell them not to allow entry of anyone who is unknown to them.
Though there was no violence experienced by the victim, he still is fearful that the suspects could return.
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