Chronicle Editor
Freedom Mupanedemo, Midlands Bureau
Scores of unemployed teachers in Shurugwi and Mberengwa districts in the Midlands province lost about $10 000 to some conmen who clandestinely accessed a list of names submitted to the Public Service Commission (PSC) before calling the teachers individually asking them to send varying amounts of money via EcoCash for “employment” administration.
Some of the teachers who fell victim to the con-artists said they were asked to send up to $1000 as “employment” administration to the tricksters who pretended to be officials from the PSC.
“I completed my teacher training course in 2018 and went back to my village in Mberengwa. I then heard that some of my colleagues who were not employed were registering with the Zanu-PF district offices and the list would be sent to PSC for consideration.
“I completed all the procedures and I received a call around mid-December last year from someone claiming to be a PSC worker. I was asked to send $500 administration fee with the caller claiming the money would be used to process my work papers,” said one of the duped teachers Mr Argon Siwela.
He said when he made a follow up with the PSC just before schools opened, he discovered that there were a lot of other people who were duped using the same method.
Another victim, Ms Lora Ngwenya from Shurugwi said the conmen who called her even directed her to the school she was supposedly allocated.
“I registered with Zanu PF secretary for Shurugwi district and I also got a call and was conned. I later realised there were a lot of us that had been duped. The issue is being handled by the party’s leadership at district level because no one is sure where and when the list was leaked to these conmen,” she said.
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