At 17:30 last Thursday, Iain Purdon of Louis Trichardt received a chilling call from an unknown number. The speaker told him that his domestic worker, Elisa Tshileumbana, had been hit and killed by a vehicle while she was walking home from work.

Convinced by the speaker’s concerned tone of voice, Iain entered into a phone scam that has been manipulating Polokwane residents for weeks. Last week, the thieves brought their scam to Louis Trichardt, preying on people´s goodwill.

The Purdons were shocked to discover that their worker of 11 years was alive when she arrived for work on Friday morning. “She was like an apparition. We couldn’t believe our eyes,” said Iain’s wife, Lodene.

The caller told Iain his name was Johannes, the domestic worker’s brother, and he was desperately in need of money to cover the costs of her death. Iain didn’t hesitate to wire R275 of airtime from his cell phone for the expenses, but the caller wanted more.

In a similar case on June 6, the Polokwane Observer reported that Mr Stefan Steyn was also notified that his domestic worker had been killed in a car accident. Mr Steyn became suspicious and phoned the police to check for the accident report. There was none.

After Steyn´s story was published, similar cases emerged around the area from the same Vodacom cell phone number. The number, which was still active when the Zoutpansberger called it on June 22, was used to scam a second Louis Trichardt resident on Saturday morning.

The resident was coaxed into wiring R3 000 through an ABSA account to the callers. He was told that his domestic worker had been killed in a taxi accident on her way to a church meeting in Pretoria. The callers were very convincing and knew everything about the family, the resident said. It occurred after his worker had answered many personal questions about the family to an unknown caller earlier in the week, whom the resident suspects was posing as a workers insurance or union representative.

Iain was called a total of six times - four times on his cell phone and twice on his home phone. When Purdon stopped answering his cell phone because he was on his way into a business meeting, the caller rang the house and Iain’s daughter, Karen, picked up. The caller wanted to speak with Iain, and when Karen said he wasn’t available, the caller recognized her as his daughter.

“The voice was calm and concerned” said Iain. “The whole thing was put across very well. They got us lock, stock and barrel.”

At one point on Thursday evening, a crying female also phoned Iain to plead with him for money. They wanted an electronic funds transfer, which Iain said he would have given them if he hadn’t had to attend the meeting. “If I didn’t have to go, I would have sent much more money,” said Iain. The caller persisted with phone calls throughout the meeting.

Both Iain´s cell and home phone numbers are publicly listed, but how the caller knew specific information about the family remains unknown.

It is very important not to wire money electronically to unknown recipients, no matter how convincing they seem. In the case of the Louis Trichardt resident who gave R3 000 to aid in what he believed was a tragedy, the callers knew his family’s names, phone numbers and work schedules. They are very convincing. If the team of phone scammers attempts to call your line, please contact the police. The Vodacom cell phone number they used was 072 427 2693, though there may be others.