Conmen cash-in K35,000 over non-existent Rental Property

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Family of duck Conmen
Tricksters have conned a woman of Lusaka out of K35,000 which she paid out to them as rentals for a house that turned out not to be theirs.

The woman, who asked not to be named, said she was so certain that they were genuine real estate agents that she willingly handed over the money to cover a year of rentals.
But after paying out the K35,000 on October 3, the tricksters disappeared and their phones have gone off since.
She linked up with the ‘estate agents’ though a ‘House for Rent’ advert published in the Zambia Daily Mail, and she had no reason to suspect that this was a ruse.
A few phone calls and some meetings later at her office, the woman readily parted with the cash, fully convinced that she had clinched a good deal for the house in the low density township of Lusaka.
She has decided to tell her story to warn others against sweet-talking real estate agents, especially those with no proper office or contacts.
Daily Mail assistant marketing and advertising manager Kabuswe Musonda said there is a serious challenge to stop such tricksters from advertising their fake properties in the newspaper.
He said, however, that the Real Estate Agents Association should work out regulations that would be binding to all agents who would be required to, for instance, show their identity cards when placing adverts.
Daily Mail managing director Anthony Mukwita urged those seeking houses to rent not to give out money or their contact numbers to people whose identities cannot be ascertained.
“People should be cautious and alert when dealing with estate agents.  They should never give out money or account numbers without verifying the identities of the people they are dealing with,” he said.

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