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Peter Matika
DESPERATE home seekers in Bulawayo are being swindled of thousands of dollars by bogus landlords in connivance with fraudsters, masquerading as property agents in a new cyber scam that sucks home seekers into paying rent money on houses or apartments that do not exist.
The scam, in which dozens of people have lost their hard earned money through money transfers and has been dubbed Bulawayo’s Great Rental Rip-Off, is believed to be on the rise as the rental market tightens.
So well calculated is the scam that fraudsters reportedly use social media platforms such as Facebook, where they create fake accounts to lure desperate and unsuspecting home seekers.
It is also alleged scammers pick up lost identity particulars, which they use to purchase mobile service provider lines, which they use to rip-off desperate home seekers through transactions.
In a recent scam, five people lost a combined value of RTGS$11 000, after they were told to deposit money into an EcoCash account to secure a cottage purportedly in Burnside.
“Two bedroom cottage available for immediate occupation in Burnside, tiled, fitted cupboards, solar and borehole water. It also has a double secure parking bay. Rent RTGS$2 500 and a RTGS$2 000 deposit is required,” read the post.
In an investigation on the matter B-Metro took the liberty to respond to the post, inquiring about its location and if it was still available.
As expected one Tawanda Sibanda, who had posted the advert and has been identified as one of the masterminds behind the recent scam responded by providing a phone number, which he claimed belonged to the owner of the house, whom he identified as Troy.
“Please call Troy on 0776 267 425. He’s the owner of the place,” he said.
Upon calling the number the person on the other end of the line (Troy), in a bid to coerce a payment, said the cottage was still available, but many people were interested in it and were promising to make payments as soon as possible.
“There are many people interested in the cottage. Some are saying they are making payments before the end of the day. So whoever pays first will get the cottage. You can call my wife (Mrs Sibanda) on 0788 766 958, she is at home so that you rush there and view the cottage and make a payment if you are serious about it,” he said.
Moments later the number was no longer reachable, while the post was also taken down.
B-Metro then made an inquiry on both the numbers and it was discovered that they were registered under different names: Tendai Makandza and Patience Rhowa.
Both numbers are still unreachable.
A Facebook user who had been monitoring the post issued a warning to others stating that the cottage was non-existent and that it was all a scam.
“Please take note of people advertising this cottage particularly by one Tawanda Sibanda. It’s a scam, they will ask you to send money on EcoCash then disappear. Cottage does not exist; they will give you a non-existing address. DO NOT SEND THEM MONEY.”
“Wow, I sent money was given an address but still can’t find the place,” wrote one user.
“It’s non-existent my friend, I paid and was told to go to number 16 Martin Road in Burnside.”
“There is no number 16; the last house is number 14,” responded another user who was scammed.
Online Reporter