SON OF A CON - We need stricter social media policies to track down and make examples of online skollies

IT’S in the book of Peter in the Bible where it says, ‘pasop die duiwel loop rond soos ‘n brullende leeu’.

But I want to tell you today, hy sit deesdae rustig agteroor while typing on cellphone screens, laptops and whatever gives you access to social media.

And it’s time to call him out and make an example of these social media skollies. 

Kyk hie’, it’s January, and mense are desperate daar buite.

These guys AND girls then get so uitgevriet for ander mense se goed that instead of using their brains for good, they conjure up the gevaarlikste planne to con you with social media scams and then possibly even kill you as we’ve seen in some instances.

So beware - especially this month when you are trying to sell some goods to make an extra geldjie or buy a bargain online from some desperate seller.

Just the other day, a man from Mitchells Plain was shot and injured after he wanted to buy something for his child on social media.

He told the Daily Voice: “The dangers of social media of [ads] being put out there is that people’s lives are at risk. We must also be aware of what is happening around us.”

Then who can forget about the death of Mogamat Yusuf Daniels last year?

Daniels’ story was the saddest scam story of 2025. The 29-year-old young man had his whole life ahead of him, but was shot dead after trying to sell a phone to add to his upcoming wedding kitty.

Ashiekah Naidoo was among those charged for the death and judging by her photographs, you could easily be misled by her innocent looks.

So be vigilant, mense. There will be a lot of these scams on social media in January as mense run out of money, but not out of ideas to do harm. Be careful and if you can, avoid buying things on social media.

If you do, think of all the necessary steps you can take to ensure your safety. The last time I bought something online for example, I met the seller in broad daylight at a big shopping mall in Athlone. 

If anything had happened, people would have at least seen it go down.