I’ve been CONNED …and it could happen to you too!

Like many people this time of year, I was scouting for getaways to relax. My boyfriend found an amazing holiday home in Pringle Bay advertised on Gumtree. I know what you must be thinking…Gumtree is DODGEY. Call it a moment of error and desperation. We considered ourselves lucky to have stumbled on a place still available in December.

The pictures seemed amazing…a 12 sleeper, pool, Jacuzzi and only R1000 a night – R2000 for the weekend. I know…it seems too good to be true but like I said we were desperate and at that point excited at the possibility of actually finding a place on such short notice.





Like all procedures…we liaised with the holiday home owner and we advised to act quickly as there were others interested. We jumped at the opportunity to secure the booking and asked for bank details to pay the 50% (R1000) deposit. This process is all pretty standard, you make a payment to secure a booking – it all looks very legit, he even gives you confirmation of payment and a booking reference.

The first red flag came up for me when he specified that an Absa payment had to be done – BF asked me to do the payment since he isn’t with Absa. I have never heard of Absa CashSend, I voiced my concern yet ignored the little voice tell me otherwise and did the payment.

Now for those of you who do not know…Absa CashSend is a “convenient” way to send money to someone without them having an account or bank card with Absa. You provide them with a pin number which gets sms’ed to their mobile number and they can withdraw the money at any ATM. Does anyone see the RED FLAG YET?????!!!!!!!

Still quite chuffed with ourselves, we ask a couple of mates if they wanna join us on another time, advised them to act quickly and let us know so that we could make another booking. That’s when a friend informed me that it’s a SCAM. Believe me when that happens you feel the world being tugged out from underneath you. It is sickening to think that this guy(s) just sits at home on the couch conning people out of their hard earned cash!!!!

I rush to the bank to check whether by any chance the money is still in my account – SURPRISE…it’s gone. So I spend half my working day at the Police station and Absa laying a fraud case. Absa informs me that this holiday home syndicate has been operating since last year. That a guy actually waits at the ATM to withdraw your money.

Believe me, I am well aware that I will not get my money (R1000) back and that I’m probably just adding to the police’s paper work but if there is any way that this loser gets caught I want to be part of bringing the low-life down.

So beware, they don’t call the end of the year silly season for nothing…it could happen to you.