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Cape Town - The holiday season often brings out cunning con artists, who take pleasure in scamming you out of your well-deserved holiday, according to a credit bureau expert.
Michelle Dickens, managing director of TPN credit bureau, said that every December the media is a-buzz with stories of holiday makers who have been left homeless after discovering their perfect piece of holiday paradise was simply a scam.
Scam artists often pose as estate agents or landlords, said Dickens. “If you are renting through a property portal it is common that the property will be rented property-unseen and without meeting the estate agent or landlord face-to-face,” she said.
“This is the most high-risk scenario, so authenticating the contractibility of the landlord or estate agent is important,” Dickens said. “Be wary of the landlord or agent who only communicates with you electronically.”
“Other factors that need to be considered which might suggest that you are dealing with a scam artist is if the potential estate agent or landlord is only prepared to communicate with you via a cellphone number and not a landline number,” said Dickens. “Or if the email address that you are communicating on is a free email address and not a business email address.”
Fin24’s Matthew le Cordeur will participate in a live Twitter Q&A with Dickens from 15:00 to 15:30 on Wednesday. If you have any questions you would like answered or would like to share your experience, send them to now.
