Old schemes, new times
It seems that in Rustenburg the old scams are returning and nowadays worse than ever before. Scams have always been a problem. And in this instance pure daylight robbery. Clever words and a proven to work trick is what we should be looking out for. If you are not careful you might just cash up on the end of a day and realize that you have a R200 missing.
They come into a shop and buy the cheapest item they can find. Perhaps something with the value of around R50. Something to note is that they will always come in pairs. Now when the suspects come to pay they will pay with a R200 note. When change is given, one will very quickly give a hundred rand or so to the other. He will complain and fight that the wrong amount of change was given and he demands that the rest be given as well. If not they will very likely harass the clerk and try everything to get the money. When the money is given they then start chatting and occupying the clerk to confuse them. After a short period they decide that they don’t want the product anymore and demand that they get a refund. Again they will harass or use very clever words to confuse the sales person . After they receive their refunded money they will quickly get out of the store and vanish into the crowd. Effectively they leave with more money than they started and this is pure daylight robbery.
The usual targets are small businesses and they keep an eye on the shops to see when one of the staff members goes on lunch. There are ways to avoid this from happening. Count the change aloud and in front of the client before giving it over. If they continue to harass you, count up all the money in your cash register, but do not let them see your methods or your money. And finally, if a sales person experiences something like this they should call their manager or another person to help them keep track of what is happening.
It seems that the old tricks like these ones are becoming popular again. We know of a few businesses that have been caught by this scam. Do not let the criminals outsmart you, but outsmart them by being ahead at all times.