I got scammed …

I always get excited when people call and say they have goods to donate to a charity, and whether we could suggest one.

Times are tough and charity organisations need all the help they can get. I take my hat off to people who dedicate their lives to helping others – be it animals, children or our golden oldies.

Last week a man from Babsfontein called and told me about a storm on his farm and that his freezers were struck by lightening. He had a lot of meat he wanted to donate to a charity in the Roodepoort area. The man, who said his name was Frik Viljoen, sounded like a decent person, also a golden oldie, and he was very adamant that the meat had to go to a specific organisation. The only snag was that it had to be collected within the hour because it would spoil if he waited any longer. He said he even confirmed with his insurance company that they would cover the costs if he donated the produce to charity.

Knowing the price of meat and not even thinking twice about the offer, I contacted a charity organisation with the news.

After many frantic phone calls in a race against time to have the meat collected, organising transport (the charity does not have its own vehicle), I left the office knowing the charity will have meat for those in its care for at least the next two months.

Monday morning, however, I was informed that ‘Frik’ requested an amount of R1 200 for airtime because he needed to get hold of the person collecting the meat. Lo and behold, ‘Frik’ disappeared.

Not only do I feel like a fool for having fallen for this scam, I am furious that someone took advantage of those in need just to get his hands on some money. May this never happen to you, ‘Frik’.

I do not often trust people that easily, but so we learn.

Until next week, take care of one another.