The long-held notion that there is a criminal syndicate operating in the concrete fencing, asphalting, and paving industry, poised to defraud unsuspecting victims, was confirmed recently with the arrest of two foreign nationals who allegedly attempted to swindle a woman out of thousands of rands.
Cato Manor police stated that the woman was lured by the suspects to the premises of a manufacturer of concrete fencing supplies.
After convincing the woman that they would negotiate with the suppliers on her behalf to gain a reduced price they allegedly attempted to flee the premises.
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Police had, however, been in contact with the woman and set up a sting operation, nabbing the two men in the process.
A business owner from Bonela, Preggie Govender, ploughing his trade in the home improvement space, has come across many such scams.
“There is a group of individuals who advertise home improvement services on social media, such as Facebook marketplace in particular. These guys advertise products and services at an incredibly discounted rate. People are then attracted by this and are snared by their trap,” he claimed.
Govender has advised that there are two popular methods utilised by fraudsters.
“They operate in two ways; they either come to your site and finish the first phase of the job and then ask for money to purchase construction material and then they disappear, or they take you to a legitimate supplier of the construction material and pretend to be negotiating to purchase the products and then they vanish with your money there at the store,” said Govender.
A 42-year-old homeowner from Asherville revealed that he lost R20, 000 last year after he was a victim of such a scam.
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“The men who did this seemed like seasoned professionals who were providers of a legitimate service. But unfortunately, that was not the case. All the money I had saved up to have my yard fenced disappeared just like that. My mistake was trusting them when they said they needed to buy material. I hope other people are conscientised about this so they don’t fall victim, as I did,” he said.
Cato Manor police spokesperson, Cpt Christopher Sibiya, confirmed the incident and stated that an investigation is ongoing. The two suspects have since appeared in court.
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