Confidence Tricksters
Terence Pillay goes undercover to lift the lid on confidence tricksters, who promise the world but deliver nothing.
Ever get pamphlets offering you better performance in bed, the winning Lotto numbers, identifying your enemies in a mirror or mending relationships at work? While it all sounds very appealing, these are nothing more than empty promises of confidence tricksters who offer everything from cures for sicknesses to investment advice, but deliver nothing.
I often park my car in Musgrave Road when I attend meetings at an office in the area. And every time I come back to the car there’s a leaflet on my windscreen from some West African-sounding “doctor” with a list of services.
These range from pills for different ailments to the more mystical “identifying your enemies in a mirror” to getting your true love to leave her husband and run away with you. But as bizarre as the list of services sound, nothing can prepare you for what lies behind the door should you make it to the rooms of one of these shysters.
So I started investigating these “offers’ and even went undercover to one of these “doctors” only to find out it’s all just an elaborate scam to relieve you of as much cash as they can.
A woman I interviewed said she had an encounter with a herbalist in Isipingo. She went to see him because she thought her boyfriend was cheating on her.
But instead of helping with her problem, this “doctor”, she says, wanted to access her bank account. He said the ancestors told him that she needed to withdraw all the money from her bank account because if she left anything behind her ancestors will cause great problems for her.
He gave her the impression that he had supernatural powers and that he could converse with the spirit world and in so doing would break the cycles of bad luck and remove negative energy. When she said she had no money in the bank, the “doctor” was furious.
She says he told her that the ancestors were angry because she didn’t want to give up her money.
The lady took me to the cave that this “doctor” took her to, where I found candle wax and the remnants of a wood fire. She told me that he had forced her to strip down to her underwear. He then made her do strange things, like rolling an egg from head to toe. Terrified, she did as she was told.
She was petrified and when he told her to go home and bring him every penny she could lay her hands on, so she did exactly that.
A community worker told me these scamsters have no scruples. Whether you’re a businessman or a domestic worker, they will rob you of everything you have. And it’s a sad story because almost always, your account is drained.
Another of my case studies says he gave a herbalist his entire pension – more than two million rand.
Too embarrassed to reveal his real name, Mr X maintains he was bewitched. He says he went to see this doctor for help with a personal matter after finding a pamphlet on his windscreen. He says he was given two bottles of medicine to drink, which he did.
The mixture had no effect on him but the “doctor” said it had enabled him to make contact with the after-life. After three days at another consult, the “doctor” told him that his father and grandfathers were in the consulting room and he could speak to them if he wished. They asked him to bring an empty bag with him.
When he got there they switched the lights off. Then he heard voices from all over, even from underground, and felt the presence of others in the room. The problem was, the room was pitch black and he couldn’t see anything.
What this doctor had in fact done was an exercise in elaborate theatrics to make the victim believe he was talking to people from the afterlife.
The community worker I spoke to said that what they witnessed was simply these bogus doctors switching off the lights before they con you. And they use these voices that come from behind boards against the wall and on the floor and the victim starts to believe that their ancestors are talking to them!
It’s all just a con.
I spoke to criminologist about this practice. He says sadly many people fall for this trick.
They start out small; you give them R1000 and at the end of the week they give you R3000 back. You think it’s the best thing since sliced bread, but back in the jungle it’s his own money that he just put on with yours. Then there is that build up further from them when they say, “Ok, now you see what I can do, let’s go big”.
They give you a little taste and then they just let human nature run its course from there. As unfortunate as it sounds, it really just comes down to greed.
Despite his boss’s warnings, Mr X drew out all his pension money over 3 days and gave it to the bogus “doctor”. In total, he handed over two point-two million rand.
With the help of a friend, I had the contents of the muthi bottles tested. It was a mixture of harmless cooking herbs and water.
A member of the Hawks who was investigating these bogus doctors said they knew of cases that are happening in Mpumalanga, Kwa-Zulu Natal and deep rural areas in South Africa. He said they are seeing a pattern and they have arrested some of them, on charges of theft under false pretences. They are hoping that with these cases they’ll get good convictions. But unfortunately in most of the cases the money that has been taken is almost gone.
The police say if you take away all the theatricality of it, its fraud and it’s a crime. You are being defrauded of money whatever the case may be. So people have to go to the police. The problem of course is that with type of crime the police can’t act in any real proactive way because these scamsters change their modus operandi constantly
The big hurdle is that most people who do get defrauded by these con artists don’t always go and report what happened because they feel ashamed. In fact they should report it because the more information the police have the bigger and better case they can build against these fraudsters.
What is critical is for people to understand that these prophecies won’t take you anywhere. Claiming that you can become an overnight millionaire it’s never going to happen, so don’t be greedy.
Have you been scammed by one of these bogus “doctors”? I want to hear your story.
I often park my car in Musgrave Road when I attend meetings at an office in the area. And every time I come back to the car there’s a leaflet on my windscreen from some West African-sounding “doctor” with a list of services.
These range from pills for different ailments to the more mystical “identifying your enemies in a mirror” to getting your true love to leave her husband and run away with you. But as bizarre as the list of services sound, nothing can prepare you for what lies behind the door should you make it to the rooms of one of these shysters.
So I started investigating these “offers’ and even went undercover to one of these “doctors” only to find out it’s all just an elaborate scam to relieve you of as much cash as they can.
A woman I interviewed said she had an encounter with a herbalist in Isipingo. She went to see him because she thought her boyfriend was cheating on her.
But instead of helping with her problem, this “doctor”, she says, wanted to access her bank account. He said the ancestors told him that she needed to withdraw all the money from her bank account because if she left anything behind her ancestors will cause great problems for her.
He gave her the impression that he had supernatural powers and that he could converse with the spirit world and in so doing would break the cycles of bad luck and remove negative energy. When she said she had no money in the bank, the “doctor” was furious.
She says he told her that the ancestors were angry because she didn’t want to give up her money.
The lady took me to the cave that this “doctor” took her to, where I found candle wax and the remnants of a wood fire. She told me that he had forced her to strip down to her underwear. He then made her do strange things, like rolling an egg from head to toe. Terrified, she did as she was told.
She was petrified and when he told her to go home and bring him every penny she could lay her hands on, so she did exactly that.
A community worker told me these scamsters have no scruples. Whether you’re a businessman or a domestic worker, they will rob you of everything you have. And it’s a sad story because almost always, your account is drained.
Another of my case studies says he gave a herbalist his entire pension – more than two million rand.
Too embarrassed to reveal his real name, Mr X maintains he was bewitched. He says he went to see this doctor for help with a personal matter after finding a pamphlet on his windscreen. He says he was given two bottles of medicine to drink, which he did.
The mixture had no effect on him but the “doctor” said it had enabled him to make contact with the after-life. After three days at another consult, the “doctor” told him that his father and grandfathers were in the consulting room and he could speak to them if he wished. They asked him to bring an empty bag with him.
When he got there they switched the lights off. Then he heard voices from all over, even from underground, and felt the presence of others in the room. The problem was, the room was pitch black and he couldn’t see anything.
What this doctor had in fact done was an exercise in elaborate theatrics to make the victim believe he was talking to people from the afterlife.
The community worker I spoke to said that what they witnessed was simply these bogus doctors switching off the lights before they con you. And they use these voices that come from behind boards against the wall and on the floor and the victim starts to believe that their ancestors are talking to them!
It’s all just a con.
I spoke to criminologist about this practice. He says sadly many people fall for this trick.
They start out small; you give them R1000 and at the end of the week they give you R3000 back. You think it’s the best thing since sliced bread, but back in the jungle it’s his own money that he just put on with yours. Then there is that build up further from them when they say, “Ok, now you see what I can do, let’s go big”.
They give you a little taste and then they just let human nature run its course from there. As unfortunate as it sounds, it really just comes down to greed.
Despite his boss’s warnings, Mr X drew out all his pension money over 3 days and gave it to the bogus “doctor”. In total, he handed over two point-two million rand.
With the help of a friend, I had the contents of the muthi bottles tested. It was a mixture of harmless cooking herbs and water.
A member of the Hawks who was investigating these bogus doctors said they knew of cases that are happening in Mpumalanga, Kwa-Zulu Natal and deep rural areas in South Africa. He said they are seeing a pattern and they have arrested some of them, on charges of theft under false pretences. They are hoping that with these cases they’ll get good convictions. But unfortunately in most of the cases the money that has been taken is almost gone.
The police say if you take away all the theatricality of it, its fraud and it’s a crime. You are being defrauded of money whatever the case may be. So people have to go to the police. The problem of course is that with type of crime the police can’t act in any real proactive way because these scamsters change their modus operandi constantly
The big hurdle is that most people who do get defrauded by these con artists don’t always go and report what happened because they feel ashamed. In fact they should report it because the more information the police have the bigger and better case they can build against these fraudsters.
What is critical is for people to understand that these prophecies won’t take you anywhere. Claiming that you can become an overnight millionaire it’s never going to happen, so don’t be greedy.
Have you been scammed by one of these bogus “doctors”? I want to hear your story.
You can email Terence Pillay at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter: @terencepillay1 and connect with him there.