The Hawks in Limpopo issued a warning regarding thugs pretending to be members of the unit but who are indeed defrauding pensioners.
Hawks Spokesperson Matimba Maluleke said the warning follows an incident where a pensioner lost R90 000 after handing it to thugs who came up to him in the Polokwane Central Business District (CBD) recently and claimed to be members of the Hawks.
“The victim alleged that he had been approached by a man in the CBD who reportedly told him that he was smeared with something on his coat. The suspect even volunteered to call the ‘Police’ who arrived quickly. The alleged three Policemen who were phoned told the victim that they were Hawks members and asked him to hand over the money in his possession to them for safekeeping. They further requested him to withdraw all the money he had in his bank account on different dates so that it could be kept safe,” Maluleke said.
The pensioner allegedly ended up withdrawing all the money from his bank account and giving it to the impostors.
Yesterday (Wednesday) the pensioner visited the Hawks offices to meet with the officers who took the money from him. He was devastated to learn that he had indeed been robbed. We are warning people to be vigilant and not fall victim to fraudsters.
“We do not have safes to keep money and we do not safeguard money at our offices. If people claim to be Hawks members and ask you to hand over money for safekeeping, know that you are about to be defrauded,” Maluleke said and added that uch incidents should be reported to the Police immediately.
RC MYBURGH
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