Scam alert issued for home improvement contractor who switches workers and flees with your cash
Do you pay close attention to the casual labourers a contractor brings to your home?Unobservant homeowners beware - there is a scamster who cons them and you.A scam alert has been issued in Durban's Phoenix and surrounding areas by Reaction Unit South Africa.This comes after a resident of Redfern in Unit 10‚ Phoenix‚ complained he had been conned out of R2‚500 in cash by a man running an asphalting business.Explaining how the crime unfolded‚ Reaction Unit SA said the victim had seen an advertisement pasted on light poles and in a local newspaper in Phoenix advertising asphalting at discounted rates. He contacted the advertiser who met with him at his home. A quotation of R4‚000 was given to prepare and tar his yard.On Thursday last week‚ the advertiser and two of his staff went to the victim's home where they removed all the grass from the property.They then informed the victim that they needed R2‚500 in cash to purchase the asphalt. After handing over the cash‚ the victim and business owner agreed the staff would stay on the property as surety that he would return with the tar.The businessman then left the property under the pretext of purchasing the asphalt‚ "but instead picked up two casual labourers from the roadside and dropped them off at the victim's home before fleeing with his two staff".The victim was unaware that he had switched his staff with the two casual labourers. After waiting for a lengthy period‚ the victim realised that something was wrong.He then questioned the two men who were on his property and realised that they were not the same people the businessman had arrived with that morning.The two men informed the victim that they did not know the businessman and that they were independent contractors who sat on the roadside waiting to be picked up by anyone seeking casual labourers."It is alleged that the scam artist has conned several other people out of monies using the same modus operandi‚" Reaction Unit SA said.A case of theft under false pretences has been registered with the South African Police Service...
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