Cape Town - The City of Cape Town has warned residents of new housing scams in which potential government house beneficiaries or subsidies are being asked to part with cash.
Revealing the scam in a notice, acting Mayco member for Human Settlements James Vos reminded City residents that they do not need to pay for a government housing opportunity and always to be vigilant to ward off potential scammers.
Vos said the City had recently become aware of a case in which an applicant received an email advising that she would receive a title deed for a house in Watergate, Mitchells Plain if she paid a sum.
“If you are asked to pay to register on the City’s Housing Needs Register for a government housing Breaking New Ground (BNG) opportunity or a plot of City-owned land, you are being scammed.
“If the opportunity is advertised as a ‘RDP house’, you are being scammed. If the correspondence does not have a City letterhead, you are being scammed.”
Vos said residents and applicants looking for government housing were encouraged to be aware of scams and if they think that they might have been the victims of a housing scam, to please report it to the police for investigation. He said these types of cases happened regularly and affected the most desperate, vulnerable residents.
“Qualifying beneficiaries are reminded again that they do not need to pay to register on the Housing Needs Register or to receive a subsidy housing opportunity.”
He said the register, which is protected, updated and audited, is necessary to prevent queue-jumping and to provide opportunities in a fair, ordered manner. The province has previously warned residents of online housing scams.
Provincial human settlements spokesperson Muneera Allie said residents should beware of online housing scams that request payment for government housing assistance.
She said that specific areas targeted included Khayelitsha, Stellenbosch, Montana, Paarl and Mitchells Plain.
Government housing and subsidies are not the only types of housing being targeted by scams.
Earlier in the year a case in the Western Cape High Court saw a house buyer awarded R5.5 million after cybercriminals hacked the buyer’s e-mail accounts during the home buying process.
Estate agents have also previously warned the public about increasingly sophisticated online property scams.
Lew Geffen Sotheby Southern Suburbs and False Bay realtor Arnold Maritz said: “There are a number of audacious hoaxes to be wary of.
“These include those run by syndicates that have people who very convincingly pose as estate agents, sellers and registered attorneys.”
Martiz said in one scam, a syndicate member posed as the owner and the property was transferred and proceeds paid without the seller being aware that their property had been sold.