The Hawks in Limpopo have issued a warning to South African women after a 60-year-old teacher was scammed of R800 000 of her pension money by her foreign boyfriend, 10 months into their relationship. The Polokwane-based retired teacher allegedly met her lover in January this year at a shopping complex in Polokwane and they hooked up a few days later. 

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT, R800 000 PENSION LOST 

According to the Hawks provincial spokesperson Matimba Maluleke, the lady who was employed by the Department of Education, was proposed to by the man and she immediately said yes to his proposal. Maluleke further said that the lady who was due to retire in June, visited her lover's rented house in Ivy Park, Polokwane, while she was waiting for her pension payout in September. Unbeknown to her, she fell into the lion's den, because her visit spelled the beginning of her misery and her parting ways with her hard-earned hundreds of thousands of her pension money. 

"According to the victim, she was taken to one of the rooms in the house by the suspect so that she could be introduced to the ancestors. While inside the room, the victim alleged that she heard a voice coming from nowhere telling her that she had been suffering for a very long time, but her suffering was over as there was an amount of R3.8 million waiting for her. The victim further alleged that the suspect whom she was dating kept on asking for money in order to redeem her fortune (R3.8 million). The victim allegedly paid over R800 000 to the suspect until she became suspicious," Maluleke said.

LOVER DISAPPEARS INTO THIN AIR 

Maluleke added that after sending her lover money, he disappeared into thin air and was nowhere to be found a few days later at his rented property. "The victim went to her lover's rented house and she was told by the neighbours that they saw him loading his belongings into a moving truck, a sign that he had moved out of the property he had rented. Following the incident, the Hawks said many cases of fraud, emanating from dating scams, are being reported daily and they urged women especially professionals and those running their own businesses to be careful of men declaring love to them. "Since the cases of fraud (dating scam) are continuing to be reported to the Hawks, the potential victims particularly well-to-do single/widowed women are advised to be careful of the scammers who come into their lives in the name of love," warned Maluleke. 

WOMEN WARNED

He said the love scammers were targeting single women with stable jobs indicating that they were advised to resign to gain access to millions in their pensions. Others who are targeted, he said, are women who are recently divorced and have acquired some assets, indicating these are convinced by scammers to register their assets under their names or are advised to sell them so that they take the money and run away. Many others who are falling victim to the scammers and are targeted. Women who are running their own businesses, are also approached with fake business proposal that need funding by the scammers, but Maluleke said they make a run for it immediately the money is sent to them. He said the scammers are also targeting women who are widows and those who are about to retire.