With Covid-19 having made life generally difficult for all, many losing their jobs and others hard-pressed to make ends meet on reduced salaries, the last thing we need is people preying on the vulnerable for their few remaining rands.
And with the police already being negatively perceived in many communities, the last thing they need is people impersonating them to pull off scams as criminals, evidently also negatively affected in their endeavours by the pandemic, become ever more creative and daring.
Yet, this is exactly what is happening, as described in our lead story today.
Fortunately, the outcome in our story was positive, albeit at great emotional cost to those involved, but only because the intended victim knew what questions to ask and refused to take the "policeman" at his word.
Someone less educated (millions of people in this country) or more easily intimidated could easily cave in and be R7 000 out of pocket today. The threat of a police van arriving on your doorstep and a relative being hauled away on a rape charge would induce many to pay up to avoid the shame. And as our protagonist says, “Facing off with a threatening ‘police officer’ is not something your average citizen wants to do.”
Unfortunately, the police, who certainly earned some of their negative reputation with lockdown "busts" of illicit cigarettes and booze which never made their way into evidence, can do little to combat these scams aside from advising people to beware.
The best course of action is, of course, to keep your nose clean, so when a "policeman" tries to extort you, you spot the scam from a mile off.
The Independent on Saturday