---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Rosebank Neighbourhood Watch
May 25, 2011 2:37 pm Newsflash 2011 / 058<http://rnw.contextsolutions.co.za/content/2011/05/25/newsflash-2011-058/> 1. ERIC [image: conman]<http://rnw.contextsolutions.co.za/content/files/2011/05/conman.jpg>I received the following from RCID re “Eric” who has now moved to their area. (Glebe Rd - today) I am also attaching a photo received from Obswatch of a conman who may or may not be our conman. Unfortunately, the resident who was conned by the “Telkom man” last week, is away, so is unable to identify him as yet. However, students who were visited 3 times, have identified him as the man who called twice - once as the “Telkom man” 1. Is it probably safe to say that “Eric” could be 2 or more individuals working together. 2. The “I have been sent to cut the trees by the neighbour” seems to be a usual story. 3. “Please could you get me an extension cord” seems to be the next ploy. It is at this stage that cellphones etc go missing. 4. It often seems that should he not be successful at point 3, he then returns. 5. He is also described as ‘extremely persistent.” 6. He sometimes comes by car (various) and sometimes as a passenger of said car. >From the resident: Just wanted to let you know how stupid I was this morning…..let it be a warning! I answered the intercom and this guy said he was Eric, the neighbour’s gardener, and the lady had asked him to come and show me where he needed to cut the hedge between us. I just presumed he was the gardener from next door who I know. I buzzed him in, but my friend who was visiting (luckily!!) told me that this is a common ploy to get access and warned me to be careful! As he came up the path, I saw that he was not from next door and so asked him which house he was from and he said “at the back”.I asked him, while closing the front door, to go back out the front gate and around by the road to the back and talk to me at the wall. Then I quickly closed the front door and went to the back - our back garden/driveway is separate - but he didn’t appear at that gate/wall. My friend then called me to say he was still banging on the front door. He said he wanted to come in and show me. By this time I was getting worried, so I asked him (through the closed door this time!) to leave and also who he worked for. He said he worked for the Hendriksons…and we have no neighbours near us with that name. Eventually he left (as far as I could see through the peep hole) and I heard the front gate close, but was not sure if he may still be in the garden. I called ADT to come and check things out, and they of course confirmed that he is a suspect…very well-spoken and clever, and he also seems to know lots of the actual names of people in the area. Close call! ? Apparently you have warned people about this modus operandi before…I obviously did not read/remember it! I should obviously not have let him in and should have asked him to get the neighbours to come over/call me! Amazing how one can be so security conscious and then have a totally trusting/naive moment like this!? … DESCRIPTION : He is a WELL DRESSED , MIDDLE AGED BLACK MALE. SAPS and ADT have been informed, but we require residents to be ultra vigilant and to call the their relevant SAPS Sector Van/Station or ADT. 2. CPF Report - Jonathan Hobday “Police are asking members of the community to be on the lookout for a smooth-talking, well-dressed con-man, who carries a “tool-bag” and purports to be doing work “next door” but requires his victim to plug in an electric cord extension. While the unsuspecting resident is plugging in the cable, he helps himself to valuables which he puts in his “tool-bag” before he escapes. This may be the same con-man who is going around the neighbourhood posing as a Telkom technician. There have been at least four reported cases apparently involving this trick and there have been similar incidents in other areas in the cluster area. Also back in the area is the so-called “Plasma Gang” who go around in a dark-coloured car looking for places with plasma TV screens they can lift. The good news is that the “Clio Gang”, a group of three men in a black Clio, who perpetrated several crimes throughout the Peninsula area (including our area), has been arrested. They specialised in house robberies. Police have also noted that there has been a trend in the cluster towards house robberies and that most of these incidents occur between 8-10pm or 4-6am and that Thursday the most likely day for a house robbery. Crime in our precinct is generally low but statistics for the month have been given an unfortunate boost by the rash of copper thefts, as well as the theft of trolley-bins. In the last week (May 16-22), the tally of reported crimes was as follows: * Three house-breakings - in Selby Rd on Tuesday; and in Lower York and Dagbreek Roads on Saturday; * One attempted break-in - in Loch Road; * Two muggings - in Victoria Road in the Mowbray CBD and on the M3 footbridge going to UCT; * One stolen car - in Hornsey Road; and * Two thefts from cars - in Lower York Road and in the Red Cross Hospital car-park. In an effort to combat these crimes - most of which were committed during the day - the Mowbray Police sector patrols will be intensifying stop-and-search operations.” 3. Copper theft Please report any stolen drain covers etc to [email protected]. An Alma Rd resident reported one stolen on the 18th May and by the next morning it had been replaced. Excellent service from the City of Cape Town. Others went missing from: * Corner Park and Kingston (already reported) * Around the corner in Kingston (two covers gone) * Corner Kingston and Annerley * Corner Campground and Thicket (two covers gone) Copperheads toll-free number 0800 225 669 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Observatory Neighbourhood watch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/obsnw?hl=en.
