Four parking bay scammers appeared in the Paarl Magistrates’ Court on Monday on charges relating to a new scam in which residents and especially tourists visiting Paarl, are scammed out of thousands of rands.
An undercover operation by police in Cape Town led to the swift arrest of the scammers on Saturday 4 March. It was later found that the suspects are linked to an ATM fraud incident that occurred in Paarl on Friday, 3 March.
Police spokesperson, Captain Louise du Plessis, says the arrest was thanks to an undercover operation held by members of the police’s Provincial Commercial Crime unit in Cape Town last weekend.
“The complainant in the Paarl incident was scammed out of approximately R30 000. This happened when he had left a restaurant in the mall and was stopped on his way to the parking area and informed that he needed to pay for parking at the ATM in the mall.
“The suspects fled the scene and when stopping the card, the victim was informed that the funds had already been withdrawn,” Du Plessis explains.
The four suspects known as Abongile Mhlom, Mzamo Paulus, Bathandwa Rasmeni and Bandile Nyalela were arrested in Cape Town and found in possession of the complainants bank card.
The suspects will appear in court again on 16 March.
To pay or not to pay?
Since January the increased numbers of this type of scams prompted warnings from police and Paarl Post to either avoid or report such situations to security officials and police.
The police released a public notice to inform visitors to the town that the vast majority of parking in Paarl is free. However, this confused residents as to whether sections in central Paarl where there has been paid parking for years, was a scam too.
Residents should note that the parking marshals in Lady Grey Street and parts of Main Street, are legitimate parking marshals.
These parkings are paid in cash, after which the parking attendant uses their handheld machine to print and issue proof of payment. Residents should not pay with their debit or credit cards for parking.
