Online love affair scam Staff Reporter Thursday, June 19, 2014 - 08:00 News Social media con artists, who prey on women’s need for relationships and love for money, are now increasingly targeting women in Namibia. Ongwediva resident Natalia Ushona, 35, said she accepted a friend request on social network site Facebook from a certain Frank Alexandra whom she decided to accept since the request indicated that they had more than a hundred common friends. “I really thought that since we had so many friends in common it would do no harm, so we started a friendship on Facebook,” according to Ushona. After a month, Frank said he wanted a romantic relationship and asked her for her personal email address so they could chat more privately. “I really warmed up to him so we started with our relationship, even though we have never met in person,” Ushona said. After the relationship progressed in the second month of chatting and emails Frank told her that his company was sending him on a business trip to South Africa where they usually do business and had plans to come to Namibia at the time to finally meet her. “Things were moving fast, he told me he wanted to come and marry me at the time and he even said he wanted a mixed child with me,” Ushona said. He then promised to send her gifts, and money that he needed to look for business opportunities in Namibia, by courier. Frank asked for her postal address and contact details for the courier to contact her when then goods arrived. “One day when I got to the office I found an urgent message from Frank informing me that the courier services have been trying to reach me aimlessly and that I should check my email,” she recounted. The waybill and tracking number were there, but without Frank’s address. The courier company said the goods have arrived in Johannesburg but they needed to deposit N$3 000 for their agent to bring it to Namibia. When she told Frank she could not pay the courier he became furious, and when she told him she checked out the name of the courier company online but it was nowhere to be found and that she didn’t believe him and that he was scammer, he told her that it was over between them and that she should not try to contact him ever again. “I really count myself lucky to have escaped without sending any money,” Ushona concluded.
Posted on: Fri, 20 Jun 2014 07:18:16 +0000