CRIME TIP
Crime tip from Mobiclaw Offering people a ride We are seeing an increase of cases where criminals pretend to be domestic workers and blend in with other domestic workers either coming to or leaving from work in upmarket suburbs.
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hey prey on unsuspecting good Samaritans asking for a lift to the bus stop. They get picked up and dropped off, andonly later does the Good Samaritan realise that their purse, wallet, cellphone or all have been stolen from the car. Recently, one of our clients had such an incident, and we looked closely at the modus operandi that the suspect used once in the car. • Client’s handbag containing cellphone and purse was on her passenger seat. • Suspect got in the car and quickly said ‘Ma’am don’t worry I’ll put this in the back’ • With that the suspect threw the bag into the foot well behind the passenger seat, but very close to the door. • The suspect was very talkative, keeping the attention of our unsuspecting client. • During this time she had reached back with her left hand discretely into the bag and stole our client’s cellphone and purse from the bag. • She then thanked our client for the lift and got out the car. Fortunately there is some good to this story: Our client opened a case at SAPS. Within a couple of weeks, she was called by SAPS
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who informed her that they had made an arrest and wanted our client to attend an ID parade, which our client did and positively identified the suspect. Since then, another three females have been arrested, all believed to be working in a syndicate. They are awaiting trial. The iPhone that was stolen has since been
traced to India which goes to show that these seemingly minor incidents are part of much bigger organised crime syndicates. Well done to SAPS on making the arrest, we hope the courts follow the same example. Unfortunately, this is a lesson to Good Samaritans to not pick up strangers, as they may have sinister intentions.
SECURITY FOCUS AFRICA OCTOBER 2019
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