Fassler, whose design headquarters are based in Sandton, went to the Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre in Parktown on 10 November. Upon leaving the centre shortly after 3pm, she stopped her car just outside of the entrance in order to take her phone off of silent mode.
“An old, brown car then stopped in front of me, it looked like a typical student car,” Fassler explained.
“A young woman, who looked about 20 years old, got out of the car and approached me. She said she and her partner were lost and late for a meeting with their attorney, she then asked if she could make a call from my phone to get directions,” Fassler continued.
Fassler thought she could look up the attorney’s number on Google, but the young woman said she knows the number and asked Fassler to dial it and put the call on speaker phone.
When the person on the other side answered, he sounded irritated and said to Fassler, “These kids are always late,” and demanded to then speak to the young woman’s partner.
The woman then returned to their car and the partner, who seemed to be about 25, got out of the driver’s side and pretended to be nervous, as if they were in trouble with said ‘attorney’.
The man continued to speak to the other man on speaker phone for a short while, but then took the phone from Fassler and continued a private conversation to discuss ‘directions’ to the ‘attorney’s offices’.
“He said something along the lines of, “Wait, let me just go get a pen,” and walked back to his car with my phone to his ear. He then got in and hastily drove off,” said Fassler, who immediately realised that she had just been conned. She also noticed that the car had no number plates.
After posting a status regarding the incident on social media, two friends came forward who said the same thing happened to them, one in Parkview and the other in Melville.
Spokesperson for Parkview Police, Sergeant Lloyd Ramovha, stated that he was unaware of the incidents, but urged residents who have experienced these crimes to report them immediately.
“Reporting these incidents will allow the police to establish a pattern of these criminals’ behaviour and get them arrested as soon as possible,” said Ramovha.
“Anyone who sees this couple anywhere, should contact police and notify them of their whereabouts.”
Details: 011 486 5000.
