An unemployed single mother of two had recently fallen prey to two alleged female fraudsters who reportedly promise shoppers at an outlet at Mall of the North (MoN) that they would help them buy groceries at staff price.
The victim claimed that she was approached by a lady at the store who alleged that she knew someone who could help reduce the price of her purchases. The mother who wished to remain anonymous said she thought Christmas came early for her and fell for the trick. She further explained that they proceeded outside the mall to meet the other lady who looked professional.
“The lady alleged that she works at the specific supermarket I wanted to buy groceries from and further claimed that her duty was to help customers get lower prices. After a long conversation, they requested me to write my bank pin on a piece of paper and leave the handbag with the first lady outside and went to the store with the other lady,” she stated. She added that she was not suspecting anything until she started thinking about her children who went to a certain restaurant to buy food.
When she went out to look for them, she got the shock of her life as she couldn’t find the lady who remained with her bag. Reality kicked in, forcing her to rush to the supermarket to look for the one suspect who was supposed to pay groceries on her behalf but pity she couldn’t find her either, the victim explained. Her next move was to block the bank cards to stop transactions and report the matter to security but before she could do any of these R3 000 was withdrawn from her account.
“I acknowledge that I was stupid but it is unfair for the mall not to alert shoppers about the scam. There is a photograph of the two lawbreakers dating April displayed in the guard room but it is unfortunate shoppers can’t see it,” she stressed.
MoN General Manager Sumari de Ridder confirmed the occurrence and emphasised that shoppers are promised goods at staff prices at certain shops whereas they know very well that they are not entitled to staff prices. In other words they take part in a crime where the retailer will be the victim of profit theft, De Ridder emphasised.
“At first they are happy with this status quo. But when the tables turn they are no longer satisfied with the situation. So, they take part in a planned crime, become the victim and now want everybody to feel sorry for them. Nevertheless, this crime is very difficult to detect as it is a voluntary act between the fraudsters and the ‘victim’,” she said.
She went on to say the pictures are also distributed to guards and tenants so that the perpetrators can be brought to book, and reiterated that they had some successes of apprehending lawbreakers in this regard.
According to De Ridder, they often have crime protection awareness campaigns at the mall with the Police and financial institutions to give the public more information about new tactics that scammers use. She concluded by urging the public to be alert at all times and refrain from doing illegal dealings.
Story: ENDY SENYATSI
>>endy@observer.co.za
