This scam also known as the wash-wash scam, is where con artists attempt to fraudulently obtain money from a victim by persuading him or her that piles of banknote-sized paper is really money.
The money has been dyed black and the victim is persuaded to pay for chemicals to wash the money with a promise that he will share in the proceeds.
Two friends from KwaThema have fallen victim to these two con artists.
Benjamin Serooi had to light a candle and then close his eyes after he entered the dark “doctor’s” room in the CBD.
“They tricked me by acting as traditional healers whom I had to pay R150 for a consultation fee,” says Benjamin Serooi.
According to Springs police spokesman Captain Johannes Ramphora, Serooi was robbed of all his savings, amounting to R17 000.
Serooi says when he opened his eyes he saw a box full of R100 notes and was told the voice of his ancestors said he must go to the bank, draw all his money and it will grow to R2.5 million in cash if brought to them.
“I went back the next day with only R7 500 and the ‘doctor’ demanded R2 200 more to buy a bag to put the money in,” says Serooi.
“He later took more money, as according to the ‘doctors’, Serooi’s ancestors demanded more money,” says Capt Ramphora.
One of the ‘doctors’ visited Serooi’s house and explained his ancestors had ordered that his house be cleaned. A display fridge was taken to be washed in a river in Brakpan, but has not been seen since.
Serooi adds he received an SMS stating R200 000 has been deposited into his bank account, but upon investigation, his bank account was still empty.
The black money scam is a variation of what is known as advance fee fraud.
“These two men are interpreting the American black dollar scam,” says director Johan Homan from SA Cash Check.
The scammers start their scam by acting as traditional healers, hoping for a few replies from their pamphlets.
When a proposed client visits, communication starts between the two parties.
It will become necessary for certain fees and expenses to be paid. These fees are used as an excuse to extract funds from the victim.
The victims are informed the notes can be washed with muthi which can only be obtained by the doctors and this adds to the credibility of the fraudsters.
Filemon Dhladla is another victim who lost R38 000. He was told he was also blessed by his ancestors with R2.5m. The blessing was later increased to R5m.
“When I entered the consulting room, I heard loud noises and was told it was my ancestors talking to them,” says Dhladla.
Capt Ramphora says Dhladla’s furniture also had to be washed in a river in Brakpan in order for the ancestors to get rid of all evil preventing him from getting the money.
“Needless to say, I have never seen my furniture, nor my money,” adds Dhladla.
Both KwaThema residents went to seek help from Johan Homan’s company SA Cash Check in an effort to help them get their money back or at least to catch the thieves.
“We work hand-in-hand with the police to keep Springs safe and we want our clients to co-operate to enable us to catch the scammers,” says Homan.
The victims planned their own venture and caught the first man in Second Street, CBD, paid R150 for an empty taxi and took him to his house in KwaThema.
Dhdladla says they phoned Homan and an arrest was made on Friday at 3:10pm.
“It was exactly 10 minutes later when we caught the other man. We also confiscated muthi, drugs and the black money,” says Homan.
He adds they informed the police of the arrest and took the goods and the two men to the police station to be charged with theft.
Capt Ramphora says the men will appear in court soon.
