A community worker from Hanover Park says she fell victim to a Nutec scammer on Facebook.
The 47-year-old woman says after she paid “Mark Togara” R15 000 cash to construct an open-plan, three-bedroom Nutec house in her backyard, he disappeared with her money.
She says she found Mark on Facebook, who was advertising his business and claimed that he has a shop in Claremont.
The woman, who chose to remain anonymous, says: “I got him on Facebook because it was nearby to Claremont and he told me he has a shop there.”
The community worker says on Saturday, Mark along with four other men, arrived at her house and started clearing her backyard.
Mark then asked for the money to go buy the material, she claims, and she gave it to him.
She says he even left two of his workers behind, explaining that they would continue to clear the area to build the Nutec house.
She explains: “That was around 9am and at 2pm the two guys told me I should phone their boss, but I told them he wasn’t picking up his phone.
“They told me he picked them up at Kraaifontein robots, and they have no taxi fare home because Mark told them that they only have to work until 2pm and he is going to give them R350 for the day.
The woman says she gave them taxi geld and has since been trying to get hold of Mark, who is ghosting her.
She adds: “If this was now in another area, then they [two workers] would have been hurt badly. He also put those two men in a trap.”
The community worker says she trusted Mark because he left the two men behind, and she was under the impression that he would return for them.
The Daily Voice reached out to Mark via WhatsApp, but he didn’t respond to the allegations, and later blocked messages and phone calls.
The community workers says: “That is what he does, he blocked my son as well as myself from sending messages and when we phoned he ended the call.”
She has now opened a case of theft at the Philippi police station against Mark.
Police spokesperson, Warrant Officer Joseph Swartbooi, says the circumstances surrounding this incident are under investigation.
He reports: “The complainant, a 47-year-old woman, paid an amount of money as a deposit for services to be rendered.
"The suspect left the premises and never returned to start the construction. Philippi police registered a case of theft.“