Daily Sun (June 3 2013) - NIGHT after night, lonely Nomaswazi would stare at the picture of her cyber-lover, dreaming of the day they would be together . . . She was so in love that even as she deposited R20 000 into unknown bank accounts, she never thought she might be the victim of a scam. BUT NOW SHE IS SO EMBARRASSED SHE WON'T ALLOW HER PICTURE TO APPEAR IN DAILY SUN!
Nomaswazi Khubeka (40), from Hillbrow in Joburg, told the People's Paper that she was registered on Zoosk, an internet dating site. "But I wasn't active. I just checked messages," she said. "But then I received a wonderful letter from a man who called himself Alvin Parker." That was on 18 April. Alvin, who described himself as a 46-year-old man who lived in London, UK with his 13-year-old daughter, Anna. He said his wife had died four years before. Alvin sent her a sweet message explaining how he found her attractive and interesting.
Nomaswazi couldn't help herself. She e-mailed him at [email protected] and soon Alvin told her he was coming to South Africa. "He said he was sending goods from England, including some new clothes for me," she said. But then the warning signs - the signs that Nomaswazi preferred to ignore - started appearing.
"I received a call from a man who said the goods had arrived in Cape Town and I had to pay a fee of R5 000. "I was a little worried because Alvin said he had paid for everything," she said. "I spoke to Alvin and he said he would pay me back." She paid the R5 000.
Alvin said he would be flying to Cape Town to sort out the problem but when she phoned him, a man with an accent which sounded Nigerian answered. Alvin had been kidnapped, said the voice, and they wanted R15 000 for his release. Nomaswazi panicked! First she deposited R10 000, then she deposited another R5 000. When she went to report the kidnapping at the Alex Police Station and open a case, she heard the truth she didn't want to hear.
She was told it was a scam. The cops investigated and eight foreigners were arrested on Saturday night. They were found in President Park, Midrand after cops tracked the number they were using to phone the victim.
See the Daily Sun mobi site for more on this and other stories....
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