[imagesource:deviantart]

Several South African women have reported being scammed lately, taking money out to give to their supposed lovers.

Some have even been wrangled out of millions after being encouraged to take out bank loans or resign from work to withdraw their pensions.

In IOL‘s scam investigations, the scammed women have been located in various SA provinces including Mpumalanga, Gauteng and Limpopo, where the alleged scammers have become so brazen they roam freely in the streets and at times even show off their newly-acquired wealth on social media platforms.

Seasoned forensic investigator and anti-crime campaigner, Calvin Rafadi, said that people need to be aware of the early signs and red flags to suggest that the romantic relationship is, in fact, a scam.

“These particular scammers come under a name ‘washa-washa’, that is what they are called. I would like to urge the followers and readers of IOL to be observant, because there are red flags which one can pick up in the love relationship,” Rafadi said.

He describes the shenanigans of the scammers, who are now using pseudo-spiritual practices to lure their unsuspecting victims in.

“When a woman begins a love relationship with these people, she quickly becomes invited to the boyfriend’s place of residence. At the house, she will be introduced to what is called a prayer room where the boyfriend and his family claim they speak to their ancestors, or a prophetic voice of someone who is not visible in the dark room,” he said.

That is the set-up of a scam, he says.

“That invisible person will be hiding somewhere especially in a concealed cupboard. In some instances, the unsuspecting woman while in the prayer room receives a call from a private number. The voices then convince her to do all she can to bring money to the boyfriend.”

Rafadi notes that all this is carefully planned and staged before even the scammer meets the woman and proposes love. In certain cases, men hastily present a ring to the woman within mere weeks of meeting, eager to accelerate the whirlwind romance and cloud her judgment.

Sometimes, when the new girlfriend visits her man’s place, the family may insist that she drink something, which seems to be some potion to make the victim more susceptible to the scene.

Some of the scammed women told IOL that they believe that this water or food was spiked with unknown substances including muthi, aimed at further interfering with their mindset.

The scam involves a few acts, including trucks full of papers claimed to be bank notes, with fake ‘ancestor’ voices sealing the deal by telling the woman to approach different banks to get cash loans or to resign from her job and bring her pension lump sum.

Once the women hand over the cash, she is immediately ghosted by the scammer and his family, with all communication completely cut off.

When she goes to the premises where she handed over her money, she then finds out that all the residents have packed up and left, including her boyfriend.

Rafadi told IOL that many women who have been scammed fear reporting the case to the police as the scammers recorded nude videos or took compromising pictures of them. These women, often civil servants and mothers, are then menaced with the threat of their explicit videos or pictures being leaked on social media if they dare to speak out about being swindled.

In the most extreme cases, women have even been known to commit suicide after being left destitute.

Rafadi also warned that men are not immune to these scams, saying that they are also being lured to resign from work or take out their pensions when brought to these prayer rooms.

“In this scheme, the men would have been sold a fake business idea which the scammers say it would triple the unsuspecting man’s money,” he said.

The scam often begins when an unsuspecting man or woman is approached in a public place, particularly a shopping mall, by someone who claims to have a vision from the ancestors or from God. Some women are also approached at work by someone they think is a colleague falling in love with them. Other bogus relationships start via dating apps.

There’s even a strange scam where people are shown money tainted in ink and told that if they make a financial contribution towards buying the special chemical needed to wash the stained money, they may receive a percentage of the washed money. The expensive chemical, in the story told to the unsuspecting victims, needs to be imported from overseas and is thus pricey.

Desperate to speak out, scammed women from all over South Africa have come together, holding hands and supporting each other to raise awareness about the rampant romantic scams.

The more you know, ey?

[source:iol]