Caught by a con artist
She said after she advertised a property on a popular online advertising website, a man by the name of EJ called her and claimed to show interest in the property.
Dalene de Wet became very upset when she realised that a con artist was renting out her property without her consent or approval.
She said after she advertised a property on a popular online advertising website, a man by the name of EJ called her and claimed to show interest in the property. “We made an appointment for him and his wife to view the property, but he never arrived. He then later asked for photos as well as the address of the property, and I duly forwarded them to him,” said Dalene.
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According to her, another man then contacted her about the same property. “When he arrived he looked at me strangely, and started asking questions. He said he’d made an appointment with EJ to view the same property. He also said he’d seen the advert on another website under the name of Edwin. He was very confused and it was only then that we realised that this EJ is a con artist.”
Dalene said the man then called EJ and asked him to forward a contact because he is really interested in the property. “EJ forwarded the contract. The name on the contract is Eric Jerryman, and my name was listed as Dalene Jerryman. When I called EJ, he put the phone down in my ear,” said Dalene.
The banking details on the ad are in the name of Z Baloyi and a deposit of R8 000 is requested. A fraud case has now been opened at the police. “I don’t know how many people fell for this scam. I don’t know how many people paid the R8 000 deposit, but I hope that someone who was conned will open a case,” said Dalene.
The Record called EJ, who “confirmed” that the property was still available and that he was its legal owner. When the Record told him that the owner is actually Dalene de Wet, he put the phone down. We have not been able to contact him again.
“When you view a property, please make sure that the person is the legal owner. You can lose a lot of money if you are caught in a scam,” warned Dalene.
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