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Midlands Bureau

Scores of people, mostly women in Kwekwe and Gweru, are counting their losses after they were duped by an online confidence trickster who designed a bogus fashion web page displaying fancy fashion and designer products for unsuspecting clients.

The con artist, who is now on the police wanted list, managed to get many to send her money in advance with their orders to a batch of mobile money lines, changing these frequently probably by using stolen identity cards to get the lines.

She took advantage of the national lockdown to tell people that she was taking orders and payments only through her phone while she was at her “home” in Mbizo, Kwekwe, and lied that she had an office in the town’s city centre.

Some of the victims interviewed said when they called, a woman would answer and give them fictitious home and office addresses. She would decline payment into a bank account and insisted on mobile money payments.

“If you call her, she would just tell you that she was home and most of the products were readily available at their offices in Kwekwe central business district. Sometimes after choosing from a range of products she would have displayed, she tells you it was out of stock, but would be ordered and delivered within seven days,” said one of the victims, Ms Lucy Machaya.

Another victim, Mrs Veronica Marufu from Redcliff said she only learnt that she had been duped after she was added into a WhatsApp group where many were claiming to be still waiting for their orders to be delivered after paying.

“When I first called this person after my days lapsed without receiving my order, I was promised to get my goods in the next two days. I then called and at first she changed the tone and said because of lockdown, the orders were delayed. I was later added into a group where many people were duped and it was when we discovered that all the different Econet mobile lines which were used for communication and receiving money were no longer reachable,” she said.

The Herald checked the purported home in Mbizo and offices in town, but discovered that the given addresses did not exist.

Four of the victims have since reported the matter to the police and Econet is now helping to track the con artist.

An Econet Wireless employee, who spoke to The Herald yesterday on condition of anonymity, said investigations so far had showed that the woman could have used other people’s identity cards to acquire the lines used for her criminal activities.

“What we have discovered so far is that this person would either use a lost national identity card to acquire the lines before throwing them away after duping people. This is how these con artists usually do,” he said.

Midlands police spokesperson Inspector Joel Goko said police were investigating the matter, but warned members of the public against placing orders with online advertisers and paying them before verifying their authenticity.