Four KwaZulu Natal women were scammed out of R97K by a fake pilot claiming to be from Los Angeles, California, USA.
It is said that the man introduced himself as Ravi Kumar, an airline pilot, he would send friend requests to women on the social media platform Facebook, and during the chat, he would ask for a contact number from the women.
After getting the cellphone number, Kumar would then contact the women using a number with an Italian dialling code (+39 3510164225).
“After chatting to the victims for a few weeks, the man requests home addresses so he can send gifts. The woman was sent images of a box that contained $15,000 (R300,000),” said Reaction Unit South Africa.
Kumar would then profess his love to the women and promise to visit South Africa and marry them.
Things then take a turn as he requests R5000 from them, alleging that the box was being held at customs, he was stuck at the airport, or his bank cards were lost.
The four women from different area were collectively scammed R97 000.
