Eastern Cape police have warned members of the public to beware of street-corner gambling conmen.
“This problem has increased since the start of the festive season,” Uitenhage police spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Priscilla Naidu said today.
“Many vulnerable people are falling prey to conmen with promises of making money.”
She said there were various types of street gambling, including games involving three bottle caps, three playing cards, three boxes of matches, or a string of beads.
“All of these are a scam and the person controlling these games or pool is the only person who can pre-determine the outcome of the game,” Naidu said.
The person pulling off the scam always worked with three or four other people making up a fake “crowd”.
She said many people, after losing all their money, pawned their jewellery and cellphones in the hope of using that cash to recover the money they had lost.
“When this never happens, they then report to the police that they were robbed of their cellphones and money.”
