Westville police have issued a stern warning to motorists to desist from handing out, money, food or any donations to people standing in traffic intersections in the area.
The station’s communications officer, Elizabeth Squires, said they have noticed a resurgence of persons begging at traffic intersections, notably on Church, Attercliffe, Kings and Roger Sishi and Methven roads in Westville. Squires said while it may on the surface appear quite justifiably human to give to needy people, unfortunately the case exists in Westville where many of the ‘beggars’ seen everyday have been involved in criminal activities. “While some of them have served sentences in prison, it has been noted they are back on the block. It is the desperate plea of the SAPS in Westville for the community to immediately desist from handing out money, food or any donations to people standing in intersections in the area. As much as your humanity may cry for people in need, it needs to be understood that you are supporting these beggars who are merely whiling away their day, playing on your mercy while plotting their next crime. These beggars have attacked walkers and joggers in the nature trails as well as on the public roads,” Squires added.
She said that another issue the community is faced with are scams. “Irresistible deals are almost always a scam. It is startling that in these economic times where tons of jobs have been lost that there are still people seemingly glad to part with money for a product they have not seen in the flesh, paying the money to a name that exists only on a computer screen. They are online frauds,” said Squires. She added that it is almost a daily occurrence that someone will come into the police station with a bank statement and a really sad story about a car, motorbike, dog or pyramid scheme to have deposited a lot of money for a seller or investor to disappear five seconds after the money has cleared.
“Investments also defeat logic, that it is so easy to defraud people. You’ve never met the person you are dealing with. They are a name on a screen but you are willing to invest your entire pension, please be careful, fraudsters prowl on people they know are about to go on pension. Residents should also take the warning on bank scams. We have been warned for over a decade about ‘phishing’ scams. “The banks warn us not to give people our pin numbers and identity numbers. Banks will never ask you for a pin number, but an email pops up informing you of some irregularity on your account, the email asks you to follow the link and insert your pin number to secure control of your account, and there your money is drained. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true,” she concluded.
