By Freeman Razemba
Police have launched a manhunt for a fraudster called Changamire Mukando who duped two people of over $39 000 after making them believe that he was a Vehicle Inspection Department (VID) official and could assist them to buy vehicles that were being auctioned by the department’s Bulawayo depot.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said the two were conned using the same modus operandi, but in separate instances.
He said the first complainant lost $31 320 after Mukando had shown him photos of vehicles that he alleged were being auctioned by the VID depot in Bulawayo.
The complainant was then ordered to send the money via Ecocash and he complied.
A few days later, he discovered that there were no vehicles that were being auctioned and he reported the matter to the police. The second victim lost $8 000.
Asst Comm Nyathi urged members of the public to be wary of fraudsters who were targeting them using various method to steal their hard earned cash.
Fraud cases have been on the increase countrywide and several people and businesses have lost thousands of dollars.
A food outlet at Machipisa Shopping Centre in Harare recently lost food and drinks worth over $4 300 last month to two conmen who duped the employees into believing that they had made a payment through the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system at a local bank.
The pair produced an RTGS receipt for a local bank before they got away with 1 080 x 500ml Pepsi drinks and 130 dinner box chips all valued at $4 389.
In April last year, the Zimbabwe Republic Police arrested three suspected fraudsters on allegations of creating fictitious EcoCash messages, which they used as proof of payment for various goods.
A group of criminals was reported to be targeting supermarkets, service stations and various businesses using the same method.
The criminals created fictitious messages to convince the targeted victims to believe that they had sent money via their EcoCash merchant codes. The Herald