MORE and more South African women continue to be scammed out of their pension money and retirement funds because of loneliness, cultural beliefs and financial desperation.
This is according to head of Product Development at the Southern African Fraud Prevention Service, Nazia Karrim.
The rise of the romance scams is also attributed to the development of new technologies.
The number of women between the ages of 55 and 64 who have reportedly been victims of scams have doubled in recent years.
This week another woman, a teacher based in Polokwane Limpopo, was scammed of more than R800 000 of her pension money by a would-be lover, said Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Matimba Maluleke.
“According to the victim, who was employed by the Department of Education in Limpopo province as a teacher, randomly met a guy at a shopping complex in Polokwane in the beginning of the year.”
“The suspect allegedly proposed love to the victim, who was due for retirement at the age of 60 in June this year.”
The teacher, whose name is known to the Saturday Star told the police that while waiting for her pension to pay out in September, she visited the boyfriend’s rented house in Ivy Park, Polokwane.
“According to the victim, she was taken to one of the rooms in the house by the suspect so that she could be introduced to the ancestors. While inside the room, the victim alleged that she heard a voice coming from nowhere, telling her that she had been suffering for a very long time, but her suffering was over, as there was an amount of R3.8 million waiting for her.”
The woman said the boyfriend kept asking for money “in order to redeem her fortune of R3.8 million”.
But could only withdraw R800 000. The man vanished.
In another case in June this year, a Mpumalanga woman was conned R1.6 million of her pension payout through the black money scam.
The scam reportedly involves fraudsters, who are often the victims' lover, obtaining real money from their victims by persuading them that piles of banknote-sized paper are real money that has been dyed to avoid detection by customs officials or real currency that has been stained in a heist.
According to Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala the victim was also persuaded to pay for a chemical to wash the "money" with promises that they will share in the spoils.
“The woman's boyfriend allegedly convinced her that fake money that had been photocopied in black and white could be turned into real money when placed in the same container as authentic bank notes.
"The victim resigned from work then withdrew cash on different dates and gave it to the man so that he could convert his black notes into real banknotes…and after around R1.6 million was given to the man, he "vanished into thin air,” Mohlala said.
Karrim said South Africans were deeply connected to their culture and cultural beliefs and were followers of the fundamental traditional African belief system believe they are watched over by their ancestors, who guide them in times of crisis or when facing an important decision in their lives.
Karrim said: “Many South Africans are facing harsh economic conditions and would typically seek guidance on how to see them through these challenging times. "Scam artists are abusing cultural belief systems and are taking advantage of the believers' financial desperation to scam them for everything they have.
She said the hawks specialised 419-Scams Task Team have noticed the emergence of ancestry scams, and approached Southern African Fraud Prevention Service to help inform the public about the threat.
She said the modus operandi was intricate and malicious.
“The scam is run by a syndicate, who profile their potential victims before approaching them. When the opportunity arises, a member of the syndicate, the communicator, makes contact with the potential victim who is subsequently informed that they have been sent on behalf of a Sangoma who claims to have been contacted by the victims ancestors, and that the said ancestors need to urgently contact the potential victim to address their plight,” she said.
Saturday Star