In 2008 I travelled to the Tanzanian port of Dar-es-Salaam to pick a car which was purchased for the family from a Japanese company .
Since it was my first time to go there, I requested a friend who had been to the Tanzania before to accompany me.
In order to cut down on travelling time for the 4,000Km round trip to Tanzania, we flew from Lusaka to Dar. This takes just over two hours.
When we arrived in Tanzania, I was amazed by the heavy traffic and the crowding in the city of Dar-es-Salaam.
We spent two nights in Dar before the car could be cleared at the port.
Due to the heavy traffic within the city, we hired a local man to drive the car, up to some ten kilometres away from the port.
All vehicles that are imported via the Dar-es-Salaam port are given a specific route to follow up to the Zambian border, which is some 998 kilometres away.
There are four check points on the route at which the car's importation documents are checked.
After the local driver left us, my friend took over the steering wheel. He told me that he was now comfortable as to which roads were to be followed to be on the authorised route.
We travelled some ten kilometres when we crossed some traffic lights.
Soon after the traffic lights, we saw a Tanzanian traffic police patrol car behind us flashing its beacon instructing us to stop.
My friend thought that we were being stopped for going through the traffic lights when they had indicated "Stop". I told him that was not the case. They were showing "green" at the time we crossed the road junction.
When the two policemen came out of their patrol car, one of them, who could speak English ( Swahili is the official language in Tanzania) asked us where we were heading to ?
We told him that we were going to Zambia. He told us that we had gone off-course the authorised route by one kilometre.
We thanked him for pointing out this mistake to us and requested him to direct us to the right road.
To our surprise,he told us that we were under arrest!
He told us that we had to pay twenty thousand Tanzanian shillings (about US $12) for the "offence" or the vehicle would be impounded.
We were to appear before a Magistrates Court the following day. The charge was to be: "Attempted theft of a vehicle destined to go to Zambia and illegally diverted into Tanzania."
We were told that there was a gang of thieves who were involved in this racket.
After a protracted discussion with the English speaking policeman, the other officer who was of a higher rank, spoke to his junior in Swahili, which we could not understand. It looked like he was telling him that we could be let off after showing them our Zambian passports and the relevant documentation.
The junior officer then came into the back seat of the vehicle and closed the door behind him. He said, "Now my friends, say something!".
At first, we could not understand what he meant by "say something". After he repeated the sentence several times, we realised that he meant.
He was given a ten thousand Tanzanian note, which he quickly put in his breast pocket. He was all smiles and said, "Thank you my friends, greet people in Zambia and make sure you do not get lost again!"
Have you thanked someone who has corrected your mistake which could land you in deeper trouble if you went "off course" any further?
Remember next time someone corrects your mistake to "say something " or thank you !
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Luggage on Lap !
Recently I was traveling from the Copperbelt to Lusaka on a luxury Coach.
Seated next to me was an elderly lady who was traveling to the same destination as myself.
What attracted my attention to this lady, was the fact that despite the coach having luggage compartments, the lady decided to carry her traveling bag on her lap for all the more than three hundred kilometres to Lusaka!
http://is.gd/eGwNe
I could not find out from her why she decided to do so, as I saw it fit that it was none of my business.
My only conclusion I made was that, the lady was just trying to protect her valuables in the bag. She must have heard of travellers who have lost their property whilst traveling.
In our own lives a lot of people carry their burdens in their shoulders unnecessarily.
Our Lord and Saviour tells us that we should offload our burdens onto Him. This will give us the opportunity to enjoy the comfort of traveling on His "luxury coach".
Our Lord, Jesus Christ, says "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28).
By having a constant companionship with our Lord by abiding in his Word, the burdens of our lives will be lighter to bear as He will carry them for us most of the way.
Good day and stay blessed.
Amen!
Seated next to me was an elderly lady who was traveling to the same destination as myself.
What attracted my attention to this lady, was the fact that despite the coach having luggage compartments, the lady decided to carry her traveling bag on her lap for all the more than three hundred kilometres to Lusaka!
http://is.gd/eGwNe
I could not find out from her why she decided to do so, as I saw it fit that it was none of my business.
My only conclusion I made was that, the lady was just trying to protect her valuables in the bag. She must have heard of travellers who have lost their property whilst traveling.
In our own lives a lot of people carry their burdens in their shoulders unnecessarily.
Our Lord and Saviour tells us that we should offload our burdens onto Him. This will give us the opportunity to enjoy the comfort of traveling on His "luxury coach".
Our Lord, Jesus Christ, says "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28).
By having a constant companionship with our Lord by abiding in his Word, the burdens of our lives will be lighter to bear as He will carry them for us most of the way.
Good day and stay blessed.
Amen!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Your Testimony - A More Effective Sermon !
In our lives we go through so many trials and temptations .
The situation one finds himself can sometimes become so desperate that one looses all hope of ever coming out of it.
In my life, I have experienced several trying moments.
I am sharing them with you here for the glory of God.
In his book, "The Purpose Driven Life" ....Rick Warren says:-
"You may not be a Bible scholar,but you are an authority on your life, and it is hard to argue with personal experience.
Your personal testimony is more effective than a sermon, because unbelievers see pastors as professional salesmen,..".
In 1961, when I was only eight years old, I suffered from a sickness that almost took my life.
For over three months, I was bed ridden with no hope of recovery. My parents took me for treatment at various health centres without any improvement.
Finally they sought services of a traditional medicineman who, somehow, managed to restore by health!
As a result of this sickness, I had to repeat my Grade three class (then called Standard "1") in 1962.
When I was doing my fifth to seventh grades, between 1964 1966, I used to stay with my Grandparents at Moonga Village which is found on the perimeter of the Barotse flood plain in Mongu District.
I was then attending a school which was some four kilometers from the village.
My parents were then working at Namachaha primary school which went up to Grade four.
The school was located on the Barotse flood plain. It used to shift to the dry land (Kuomboka) annually during the flood season which is between April and July.
The Barotse flood plain is very rich in fish and milk during the dry season, hence it was always a pleasure for me and one relative of mine, whom I was schooling with at Namachaha school during our lower grades, to visit my parents regularly.This would be on a Friday afternoon before a long weekend holiday.
The journey to the school was over a stretch of some fifteen kilometers across a mainly grassy and sandy piece of land.
Because of the danger of being attacked by bandits, in areas which were not populated, we used to travel in groups of between ten to fifteen children.
After crossing the Zambezi River, it was safer to travel in smaller groups in populated and nearby villages.
On one particular trip, I and my relative were the last ones to head towards our destination.
It was then getting very dark. We were only guided by footpaths and silhouettes of trees and lights from fires which marked the presence of oncoming villages.
At one time we drifted offcourse westwards, until we reached very thick vegetation which was near a tributary of the Zambezi River.
We were very scared and had to run towards a village which we could figure out in a distance.
When we reached that village the residents there were surprised to see us. We had just travelled through some unmarked landscape, without a foot path.
We told them that we were going to Namachaha School. They told us that we were almost there. However, they advised us to spend the night in the village.
As children, we were advised not to spend nights in strange villages for fear of being bewitched, and thus we turned down the offer.
We were then advised to be rush as it was already very late in the evening.
Due a large number of school children travelling to the school on a regular basis, the footpath approaching the school was fairly wide. We could therefore manage to run on it without difficulty.
When we reached the school it was close to midnight. Our parents were surprised to see us. They wondered how we managed to reach the place under difficulty conditions.
The following morning we learnt that there were some lions that had come to the area recently and had killed a number of cattle in the neighbouring villages.
On hearing this, we trembled at the thought of what could have happened to us if we had come in contact with the beasts!
On 28 October 1994 I was admitted into an intensive care unit (ICU) of a hospital. This was after I lost nearly two litres of blood due a bleeding peptic ulcer.
I went into a comatose state as result of shock brought by the loss of blood. My life was saved by emergency blood transfussion. My breathing was assisted via an oxygen mask for several days.
I stayed in the ICU ward for a total of ten days.
The peptic stomach ulcer was as a result of a heavy beer drinking habit which had been going on for nearly twenty years.
In April 1996 I was temporarily dismissed from employment with a workmate.
This was after investigations of one senior official, linked us to his questionable activities.
On appeal, we were both found innocent. The truth was that the official used our positions to carry out his activities behind our backs. The ordeal took 51 days of torment before we were reinstated.
On 18 May 2005, I was in another near-death situation due to a diseased appendix in my stomach. An operation to remove it, saved my life on 19 May 2005.
The surgeons who removed it could not believe their eyes at how big it had swollen and puss filled due to infection. This could have killed me instantly, had the infected appendix burst and fed the puss into my blood system.
On 8 January 2010 I was out employment , after a fixed term contract which was due to expire in a year's time, was terminated without notice.
My efforts to secure another job or start a business has not been easy.
As if that was not enough, my only source of income, rentals for a house I have in Lusaka, were not been forthcoming for over six months.
The last tenant vacated the house on 31 December 2009 after a dispute.
I have had four potential tenants who intended to occupy the house from January 2010. In all cases they withdrew at the last moment due to one reason or another!
The fifth person who showed interest to rent the house in May 2010, turned up to be a con man.
It took me an agonising sixty days to get another tenant.
I believe that the Lord shall see me through this episode of my life as He had done before.
The Bible says :-
"Stop your striving and recognize that I am God! I will be exalted over the nations! I will be exalted over the earth!" (Psalms 46:10).
"No trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others. And God is faithful: He will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it." (1 Corinthians 10:13).
"At that time you will ask in my name, and I do not say that I will ask the Father on your behalf. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God." (John 16:26-27).
"But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will grant you."" (John 11:22).
Amen!
The situation one finds himself can sometimes become so desperate that one looses all hope of ever coming out of it.
In my life, I have experienced several trying moments.
I am sharing them with you here for the glory of God.
In his book, "The Purpose Driven Life" ....Rick Warren says:-
"You may not be a Bible scholar,but you are an authority on your life, and it is hard to argue with personal experience.
Your personal testimony is more effective than a sermon, because unbelievers see pastors as professional salesmen,..".
In 1961, when I was only eight years old, I suffered from a sickness that almost took my life.
For over three months, I was bed ridden with no hope of recovery. My parents took me for treatment at various health centres without any improvement.
Finally they sought services of a traditional medicineman who, somehow, managed to restore by health!
As a result of this sickness, I had to repeat my Grade three class (then called Standard "1") in 1962.
When I was doing my fifth to seventh grades, between 1964 1966, I used to stay with my Grandparents at Moonga Village which is found on the perimeter of the Barotse flood plain in Mongu District.
I was then attending a school which was some four kilometers from the village.
My parents were then working at Namachaha primary school which went up to Grade four.
The school was located on the Barotse flood plain. It used to shift to the dry land (Kuomboka) annually during the flood season which is between April and July.
The Barotse flood plain is very rich in fish and milk during the dry season, hence it was always a pleasure for me and one relative of mine, whom I was schooling with at Namachaha school during our lower grades, to visit my parents regularly.This would be on a Friday afternoon before a long weekend holiday.
The journey to the school was over a stretch of some fifteen kilometers across a mainly grassy and sandy piece of land.
Because of the danger of being attacked by bandits, in areas which were not populated, we used to travel in groups of between ten to fifteen children.
After crossing the Zambezi River, it was safer to travel in smaller groups in populated and nearby villages.
On one particular trip, I and my relative were the last ones to head towards our destination.
It was then getting very dark. We were only guided by footpaths and silhouettes of trees and lights from fires which marked the presence of oncoming villages.
At one time we drifted offcourse westwards, until we reached very thick vegetation which was near a tributary of the Zambezi River.
We were very scared and had to run towards a village which we could figure out in a distance.
When we reached that village the residents there were surprised to see us. We had just travelled through some unmarked landscape, without a foot path.
We told them that we were going to Namachaha School. They told us that we were almost there. However, they advised us to spend the night in the village.
As children, we were advised not to spend nights in strange villages for fear of being bewitched, and thus we turned down the offer.
We were then advised to be rush as it was already very late in the evening.
Due a large number of school children travelling to the school on a regular basis, the footpath approaching the school was fairly wide. We could therefore manage to run on it without difficulty.
When we reached the school it was close to midnight. Our parents were surprised to see us. They wondered how we managed to reach the place under difficulty conditions.
The following morning we learnt that there were some lions that had come to the area recently and had killed a number of cattle in the neighbouring villages.
On hearing this, we trembled at the thought of what could have happened to us if we had come in contact with the beasts!
On 28 October 1994 I was admitted into an intensive care unit (ICU) of a hospital. This was after I lost nearly two litres of blood due a bleeding peptic ulcer.
I went into a comatose state as result of shock brought by the loss of blood. My life was saved by emergency blood transfussion. My breathing was assisted via an oxygen mask for several days.
I stayed in the ICU ward for a total of ten days.
The peptic stomach ulcer was as a result of a heavy beer drinking habit which had been going on for nearly twenty years.
In April 1996 I was temporarily dismissed from employment with a workmate.
This was after investigations of one senior official, linked us to his questionable activities.
On appeal, we were both found innocent. The truth was that the official used our positions to carry out his activities behind our backs. The ordeal took 51 days of torment before we were reinstated.
On 18 May 2005, I was in another near-death situation due to a diseased appendix in my stomach. An operation to remove it, saved my life on 19 May 2005.
The surgeons who removed it could not believe their eyes at how big it had swollen and puss filled due to infection. This could have killed me instantly, had the infected appendix burst and fed the puss into my blood system.
On 8 January 2010 I was out employment , after a fixed term contract which was due to expire in a year's time, was terminated without notice.
My efforts to secure another job or start a business has not been easy.
As if that was not enough, my only source of income, rentals for a house I have in Lusaka, were not been forthcoming for over six months.
The last tenant vacated the house on 31 December 2009 after a dispute.
I have had four potential tenants who intended to occupy the house from January 2010. In all cases they withdrew at the last moment due to one reason or another!
The fifth person who showed interest to rent the house in May 2010, turned up to be a con man.
It took me an agonising sixty days to get another tenant.
I believe that the Lord shall see me through this episode of my life as He had done before.
The Bible says :-
"Stop your striving and recognize that I am God! I will be exalted over the nations! I will be exalted over the earth!" (Psalms 46:10).
"No trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others. And God is faithful: He will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it." (1 Corinthians 10:13).
"At that time you will ask in my name, and I do not say that I will ask the Father on your behalf. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God." (John 16:26-27).
"But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will grant you."" (John 11:22).
Amen!
Friday, August 6, 2010
Confidence,Trust and Hope
CONFIDENCE :
Once all village people
decided to pray for rain. On
the day of prayer all people
gathered and only one boy came
with an umbrella...... That's
Confidence....
TRUST:
Trust should be like the
feeling of a one year old baby
when you throw him in the air;
he laughs.....because he knows
you will catch him........
That's
Trust............
HOPE:
Every night we go to bed, we
have no assurance to get up
alive in the next morning but
still we set the alarms to wake us up
and
still make plans for the
coming day..........
That's Hope...........
Put your Confidence; Trust and Hope in GOD
For He is Faithful and Just ...
Amen !
Once all village people
decided to pray for rain. On
the day of prayer all people
gathered and only one boy came
with an umbrella...... That's
Confidence....
TRUST:
Trust should be like the
feeling of a one year old baby
when you throw him in the air;
he laughs.....because he knows
you will catch him........
That's
Trust............
HOPE:
Every night we go to bed, we
have no assurance to get up
alive in the next morning but
still we set the alarms to wake us up
and
still make plans for the
coming day..........
That's Hope...........
Put your Confidence; Trust and Hope in GOD
For He is Faithful and Just ...
Amen !
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Beating the ZESCO tariff hikes !
Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (ZESCO Ltd.) recently got an approval from the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) to increase electricity tariffs by an average of 25% which will come into effect from 1 August 2010.
The reason given for the proposed increment is that there is a need for the company to raise capital for construction of new hydropower stations. This is to alleviate a serious power deficiency in the country.
Hydro Electric power stations have been the traditional source of electrical energy, which accounts for nearly 90% of the nation’s entire source of electricity.
The country is already experiencing a critical shortage of electrical energy, which has resulted in increased load shedding across the country in recent years. This is due to an increase in demand of electrical power, brought about by the incoming of new industries, mainly mines, in recent years.
The country has experienced several major blackouts in the last few years as a result of inadequate generating capacity.
Aging equipment of the nation's Hydropower stations is another factor that has contributed to the crisis.
A number of the equipment has been in operation for over forty years. ZESCO Ltd. is in the process of rehabilitating the equipment and this requires more money.
In order to supplement the Zesco effort of improving the reliability of the electrical supply, and to cushion the effect of increased electricity tariff charges, it has become necessary to look at alternative sources of energy.
One of these is solar energy.
In Zambia there is an abundant supply of sunshine for most of the time during the year. The use of solar power is therefore an attractive alternative.
Solar energy can be utilized in two forms
1) Converting the solar energy into electrical energy by use of solar panels and storing it in batteries in form of DC power. The DC is then converted to AC mains by use of Inverters.
The initial capital cost for installation of solar panels to produce electricity is higher than that of hydroelectric systems.
With advancement of technology, the installation cost is steadily decreasing.
2) Direct use of the heat from the sun for water heating and cooking.
The former method is becoming common in the country, whereas the latter is not.
The method of using solar power to create heat can be used to supplement the solar panel system.
A number of companies which deal in selling and installing Solar Energy equipment do exist in Zambia. Most of the Solar Energy systems in Zambia are the solar panel type.
The direct use of the heat from the sun for water heating and cooking is a very feasible and cheap alternative to the Zesco mains power.This method is technologically less demanding than the solar panel method.
Local companies in Zambia should be encouraged to invest into this business, as is the case in the USA and other western countries.
References : -
Direct Solar Heating Systems
1) Making and using a Solar Cooker by Joe Radabaugh
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/radabaugh30.html
2) How to Build a Solar Hot Water System by John Canivan
http://www.jc-solarhomes.com/how_to.htm
The reason given for the proposed increment is that there is a need for the company to raise capital for construction of new hydropower stations. This is to alleviate a serious power deficiency in the country.
Hydro Electric power stations have been the traditional source of electrical energy, which accounts for nearly 90% of the nation’s entire source of electricity.
The country is already experiencing a critical shortage of electrical energy, which has resulted in increased load shedding across the country in recent years. This is due to an increase in demand of electrical power, brought about by the incoming of new industries, mainly mines, in recent years.
The country has experienced several major blackouts in the last few years as a result of inadequate generating capacity.
Aging equipment of the nation's Hydropower stations is another factor that has contributed to the crisis.
A number of the equipment has been in operation for over forty years. ZESCO Ltd. is in the process of rehabilitating the equipment and this requires more money.
In order to supplement the Zesco effort of improving the reliability of the electrical supply, and to cushion the effect of increased electricity tariff charges, it has become necessary to look at alternative sources of energy.
One of these is solar energy.
In Zambia there is an abundant supply of sunshine for most of the time during the year. The use of solar power is therefore an attractive alternative.
Solar energy can be utilized in two forms
1) Converting the solar energy into electrical energy by use of solar panels and storing it in batteries in form of DC power. The DC is then converted to AC mains by use of Inverters.
The initial capital cost for installation of solar panels to produce electricity is higher than that of hydroelectric systems.
With advancement of technology, the installation cost is steadily decreasing.
2) Direct use of the heat from the sun for water heating and cooking.
The former method is becoming common in the country, whereas the latter is not.
The method of using solar power to create heat can be used to supplement the solar panel system.
A number of companies which deal in selling and installing Solar Energy equipment do exist in Zambia. Most of the Solar Energy systems in Zambia are the solar panel type.
The direct use of the heat from the sun for water heating and cooking is a very feasible and cheap alternative to the Zesco mains power.This method is technologically less demanding than the solar panel method.
Local companies in Zambia should be encouraged to invest into this business, as is the case in the USA and other western countries.
References : -
Direct Solar Heating Systems
1) Making and using a Solar Cooker by Joe Radabaugh
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/radabaugh30.html
2) How to Build a Solar Hot Water System by John Canivan
http://www.jc-solarhomes.com/how_to.htm
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Tenant Vanishes Under Mysterious Circumstances !
In an effort to supplement their income after retirement from the Mines, a couple built two single bedroom flats on the plot of their house they have been living in for the past twenty years.
The flats were to be rented out to individuals who were in need of accommodation, which is in short supply in urban areas.
This accommodation was intended and suitable for single people who have just started work and have not yet got families to look after.
This is how two single ladies, who had recently been employed by one of the Banks, in one of the Copperbelt cities found their accommodation.
The two women had been schoolmates since their primary school days. They had been very close friends ever since. They have been like twin sisters who did a lot things together.
The two ladies had stayed at the rented flats for close to a year, when one of them was engaged and was married within six months.
This was a setback for the friend who had not yet got a proposal for matrimony.
Her friend had to join her husband who was working in Lusaka.
The lady who got married gave notice to the landlord to find another tenant three months before she vacated the house.
A young man who told them that he was a supplier of spares to the Mines, approached the retired couple to seek for accommodation. He was told that it will be available within three months.
When he was asked where he was currently staying, he told them that he was staying with his married elder brother in a nearby town. He told them that he wanted to shift to the city which was nearer to his customers.
He told them that once he shifts to the flat, he would come along with a lady who he was going to be cohabiting with until they officially got married.
The landlord had no objection to this announcement, though he was rather surprised at the "cohabiting before marriage" arrangement. Who was he to interfere with other people’s private affairs?
After the wedding of the outgoing tenant, the cohabiting couple moved into the flat.
When the new tenants moved in, the landlord noticed that most, if not all the furniture, kitchen utensils and bedding items were new. This did not worry him as he knew that the couple were planning to get married in due course.
The new tenant paid his rentals on time for the first six months without any problems.
The new tenant was not a very communicative individual. This was unlike the previous lady tenant who always engaged the landlord’s wife in conversation and kept referring to her as “aunt”!
The man was out of the residence most of the time and was only seen at times.
He would leave home in the morning and would not be back until late in the evening. At times he would not be at home for several days.
One evening , there was a news flash on Television that police have impounded a truck laden with copper which was believed to have been stolen from one of the Mines in the city. They had arrested the driver of the truck, who was assisting them with investigations.
Police believed that there was a syndicate of people, who were involved in copper thefts, which have been going on for sometime. The police public relations officer said that they have gathered enough information which would lead to the arrest of more suspects.
The following day the new tenant did not go out for his errands as usual. He came to see the landlord and told him that he will be leaving for further studies in South Africa in a week’s time. He told him that his fiancée would continue staying in the flat until the end of his studies.
He informed the landlord that he will make arrangements to pay for his fiancée’s accommodation whilst he was in South Africa.
He told the landlord that as he was going to be nearer the source of spares he sells to the Mines, he would be sending these to his business partner in Zambia to sell on his behalf. The partner would then pay the rental fee for the fiancée on his own behalf.
The following weekend the landlord and most of his family left for their farm, which is some thirty kilometres away from the city.
It was harvest time for the maize which was grown in the farm. The harvesting of the maize would take about ten days. The only members of the family of the landlord who were at home were three school-going children who had to remain behind as the schools they attended were open for classes.
Before going to South Africa, the tenant paid one month’s rental in advance for his fiancée.
After the harvest the landlord returned to his home. He found that the tenant has left for South Africa as told earlier.
The fiancée of the tenant was not at the home. On enquiry, the children who remained at home told their parents that they have not seen her from the time her fiancé left.
This did not worry the landlord as he presumed that maybe she has gone to visit some relatives in a nearby town.
At the month end, officials from a furnishing company in town came to look for the tenant who had just left for South Africa. He had not paid the hire purchase fee for the previous month.
They were told that only the fiancée was around but they had not seen her for two weeks now.
The lady was not seen at the flat when the next rental payment was due.
Since the landlord did not have the contact details of the man in South Africa and his fiancée, he got worried of what happened to the lady.
The children then disclosed to their parents that whilst they were at the farm, a three tonne truck came to take out some household goods from the flat. The fiancée was in the company of three men who came to take the items out of the flat.
This prompted the landlord to force open the front door of the flat to see what was left inside.
He was shocked to find that all the items, except for the curtains had been removed from the flat!
He later learnt that his tenant was part of the group of suspected copper thieves that were being sought to be interviewed by police.
He was quizzed by the police on why he kept someone whose credentials he did not verify when he posed as a tenant. He was told that he could be charged for harbouring a criminal.
The man is still at large and is on the police wanted list.
The question one should ask is, what precautions could the landlord have taken to avoid keeping a criminal unwittingly?
The flats were to be rented out to individuals who were in need of accommodation, which is in short supply in urban areas.
This accommodation was intended and suitable for single people who have just started work and have not yet got families to look after.
This is how two single ladies, who had recently been employed by one of the Banks, in one of the Copperbelt cities found their accommodation.
The two women had been schoolmates since their primary school days. They had been very close friends ever since. They have been like twin sisters who did a lot things together.
The two ladies had stayed at the rented flats for close to a year, when one of them was engaged and was married within six months.
This was a setback for the friend who had not yet got a proposal for matrimony.
Her friend had to join her husband who was working in Lusaka.
The lady who got married gave notice to the landlord to find another tenant three months before she vacated the house.
A young man who told them that he was a supplier of spares to the Mines, approached the retired couple to seek for accommodation. He was told that it will be available within three months.
When he was asked where he was currently staying, he told them that he was staying with his married elder brother in a nearby town. He told them that he wanted to shift to the city which was nearer to his customers.
He told them that once he shifts to the flat, he would come along with a lady who he was going to be cohabiting with until they officially got married.
The landlord had no objection to this announcement, though he was rather surprised at the "cohabiting before marriage" arrangement. Who was he to interfere with other people’s private affairs?
After the wedding of the outgoing tenant, the cohabiting couple moved into the flat.
When the new tenants moved in, the landlord noticed that most, if not all the furniture, kitchen utensils and bedding items were new. This did not worry him as he knew that the couple were planning to get married in due course.
The new tenant paid his rentals on time for the first six months without any problems.
The new tenant was not a very communicative individual. This was unlike the previous lady tenant who always engaged the landlord’s wife in conversation and kept referring to her as “aunt”!
The man was out of the residence most of the time and was only seen at times.
He would leave home in the morning and would not be back until late in the evening. At times he would not be at home for several days.
One evening , there was a news flash on Television that police have impounded a truck laden with copper which was believed to have been stolen from one of the Mines in the city. They had arrested the driver of the truck, who was assisting them with investigations.
Police believed that there was a syndicate of people, who were involved in copper thefts, which have been going on for sometime. The police public relations officer said that they have gathered enough information which would lead to the arrest of more suspects.
The following day the new tenant did not go out for his errands as usual. He came to see the landlord and told him that he will be leaving for further studies in South Africa in a week’s time. He told him that his fiancée would continue staying in the flat until the end of his studies.
He informed the landlord that he will make arrangements to pay for his fiancée’s accommodation whilst he was in South Africa.
He told the landlord that as he was going to be nearer the source of spares he sells to the Mines, he would be sending these to his business partner in Zambia to sell on his behalf. The partner would then pay the rental fee for the fiancée on his own behalf.
The following weekend the landlord and most of his family left for their farm, which is some thirty kilometres away from the city.
It was harvest time for the maize which was grown in the farm. The harvesting of the maize would take about ten days. The only members of the family of the landlord who were at home were three school-going children who had to remain behind as the schools they attended were open for classes.
Before going to South Africa, the tenant paid one month’s rental in advance for his fiancée.
After the harvest the landlord returned to his home. He found that the tenant has left for South Africa as told earlier.
The fiancée of the tenant was not at the home. On enquiry, the children who remained at home told their parents that they have not seen her from the time her fiancé left.
This did not worry the landlord as he presumed that maybe she has gone to visit some relatives in a nearby town.
At the month end, officials from a furnishing company in town came to look for the tenant who had just left for South Africa. He had not paid the hire purchase fee for the previous month.
They were told that only the fiancée was around but they had not seen her for two weeks now.
The lady was not seen at the flat when the next rental payment was due.
Since the landlord did not have the contact details of the man in South Africa and his fiancée, he got worried of what happened to the lady.
The children then disclosed to their parents that whilst they were at the farm, a three tonne truck came to take out some household goods from the flat. The fiancée was in the company of three men who came to take the items out of the flat.
This prompted the landlord to force open the front door of the flat to see what was left inside.
He was shocked to find that all the items, except for the curtains had been removed from the flat!
He later learnt that his tenant was part of the group of suspected copper thieves that were being sought to be interviewed by police.
He was quizzed by the police on why he kept someone whose credentials he did not verify when he posed as a tenant. He was told that he could be charged for harbouring a criminal.
The man is still at large and is on the police wanted list.
The question one should ask is, what precautions could the landlord have taken to avoid keeping a criminal unwittingly?
Saturday, July 17, 2010
The Snare of the Deception of Confidence Tricksters
Note: This article is an unedited excerpt from a book being written to be entitled "The Snares of a Deceptive Society".
Introduction
The author has been prompted to write this article after experiences he and some close friends had at the hands of con men.
Con men always exploit a given circumstance in order to make monetary gains out of it.
Such a circumstance is usually brought out by a need to improve one's financial position. One may need to improve sales of goods in a shop or to rent out some property or services for cash.
The con man would study the financial position of his potential victim before he strikes.
It is my hope that a number of the readers who were likely to become future victims of these people would take precautions to protect themselves.
This article does not claim to be the "be-it-all" or a "crime-busting" manual to prevent one from being conned.
The author takes no responsibility for loss or gain incurred by the reader as a result of the advice or opinion given in this article.
Case One:
Hardware Shops
Non Government Organizations (NGOs) are renowned for doing a very commendable job of supplementing Government efforts in undertaking developmental projects in the country. This is more so in rural areas where they are involved in projects such as building orphanages, schools and healthy centres.
NGOs are known to be well funded by the foreign countries that sponsor them and if any supply company is approached to provide some goods they are usually assured that the payment will be prompt. This is unlike other institutions who take longer to make payment for services rendered.
It was in 2007 during the Heroes and Unity holiday, which extended from Sunday up to Tuesday, when a group of four young men came to one city on the Copperbelt.
The day was a Saturday at around midday; one group went to an IT and computer hardware shop and presented a Bank Certified Cheque to the manager of the shop worth $5,000 for the purchase of five Computers for an orphanage in the Northern Province.
Meanwhile another group went to the industrial area and approached a hardware shop with another cheque for $2,500 for the purchase of some electrical cables for the same orphanage.
At the computer hardware shop they did not encounter any problems. However, at the other shop they were told that there were only cables worth $1,500 in stock and the rest could be collected from their warehouse which was a few kilometres from the shop.
The owner of the shop selling cables saw an opportunity to make a good profit. He organized to purchase the remaining cable from nearby hardware shops at $850 which he sold to the unsuspecting NGO officials.
Whilst the men were waiting for the other cable to be delivered, they were feted by the shop owner who was glad to make such a big sale a few minutes before the shop closed at 12:45 hrs. Up to this time the day has been bad for business as $150 worth of sales were realized from 8:00 hrs when the shop opened.
In order not to raise any suspicious activity the men at the cable shop made telephone calls using their mobile phones to the other group who were purchasing computers for the orphanage. The three men were clad in expensive looking three-piece suits and were wearing expensive perfume which is normally used by the affluent in society. They had hired a 3 ton Mitsubishi Canter light truck which was painted with the logo of the purported orphanage. The shop keeper could therefore not suspect anything strange with the three men.
The computer shopkeeper took the cheque to the Bank before close of business where it bounced and referred to the owner of the cheque.
This information about the conmen did not filter to the cable shop owner at the time he was organizing for more cables.
The conversation by mobile phones between the con men was actually for telling the other group at the cable shop to remain calm, as police were alerted of the bounced $5,000 cheque from the computer shop. They were told to flee should they sense that the shop owner was getting suspicious.
The three men at the cable shop managed to keep calm until the cable was delivered at 13:30 hrs, some forty five minutes after the official closure time for shops on Saturdays.
During the long weekend the cable supplier heard a story of a group of men who got away with five computers using a forged cheque. This did not worry him at all because the ones who came to his shop “looked” genuine.
When the long weekend holiday was over, the cable shop businessman took the cheque to the Bank.
He was shocked when he was told that the cheque was not genuine!
For starters, a Bank Certified Cheque is never hand written except for the signature of the Bank manager. They are usually machine printed with the figures written in perforation on the cheque. Secondly, the name of the Bank had changed from "So and So" Bank Ltd. to "So and So" Bank Plc!
The man soon started to sweat profusely when he realized that he was also duped in a similar fashion to the computer shop. He was admitted in hospital with a life threatening BP of 200 over 130 mm of mercury.
When he recovered, he was given a $200 bill for medical treatment from the hospital.
His only consolation was that he was tricked out of $2,500 worth of goods which was half of the amount stolen from the computer shop. He shivered when the thought came to him if the situation had been vice versa!
Case two:
Serial Conman!
In May 2009 a man showed interest to be a new tenant of a house in the Midlands.
The owner of the house was staying on the Copperbelt.
The house required some renovations to be done before it was to be occupied. The owner agreed with the tenant, who was to do the renovations and the amount spent would be deductible from the rental fee.
The owner of the house was to be paid about $4,000 in rentals in advance for 3 months. This was less the renovation cost.
The man moved into the house and commenced on the renovations. He promised the Landlord that payment of rentals would be effected within two weeks.
The Landlord was made to check his Bank account on the Copperbelt, for the promised rental payment, on several occasions from mid May 2009. After ten days without being paid, he realized that he had been duped.
The owner of the house travelled to the Midlands without informing the tenant.
On being confronted by the owner of the house, the tenant produced a Bank receipt. The receipt showed a cheque deposit of $25,000 into the man's bank account. He claimed that it was from a parastatal Company.
On closer examination, the receipt turned up to be fake and the matter was reported to police for investigation.
On sensing danger, the con man fled and disappeared.
Police investigations revealed that a vehicle he was using, during the time of renovations of the house, was hired from a certain lady.
The hiring was at $400 per week for a "Project" in Southern Province. She had not been paid $1,400!
A man, who lured the lady into hiring her vehicle to the con man, had claimed to be working at a certain Lodge. He was, in fact, a shill for the con man. He had introduced the con man to the owner of the vehicle. He told her that the man was one of their guests.
On checking with the Lodge it was found that the con man owed $1,000 in unsettled bills!
A businessman was made to supply building sand worth about $500. He was told the stone was to be used for the house renovations. The businessman was told that the house belonged to the con man.
One man and his lady friend were made to pay the con man $800 in advance. This was for rental of the cottage of the house for four months. The couple were not aware that the house did not belong to the man at the time of payment.
They realised that they have been tricked when the lady was about to shift into the cottage on 4 June 2009. The matter was reported to Police.
At the time of writing, it was not known how many other people had been victim to this crafty man, who was believed to belong to a syndicate of con men yet to be arrested and interviewed by Police!
What is a Confidence Trickster?
According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org ), a confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or a group by gaining their confidence. The victim is known as the mark, the trickster is called a confidence man, con man, confidence trickster or a con artist.
Confidence men or women exploit human characteristics such as greed, dishonesty, vanity, honesty, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility and naiveté. The common factor is that the mark relies on the good faith of the con artist.
Just as there is no typical profile for swindlers, neither is there one for their victims. Virtually anyone can fall prey to fraudulent crimes.
Shills, also known as accomplices, help manipulate the mark into accepting the con man’s plan.
How Does One Identify a Con Man?
Though there is no foolproof way one can really identify a con man, the following may assist one to be on the look out for one.
If a promise is made to you like “The money is being deposited into your account within the next two days”, and nothing happens, he will accuse someone else for not fulfilling the promise. “You know these small banks they take longer to do their transactions”. This is not true because the transactions are done electronically. The size of the Bank has nothing to do with how fast they operate.
In order to win your confidence, you maybe told of huge amounts of payments he expects to receive from some source. For example you will be told something like “I am expecting a payment of $40,000 from one Company where I did some work for them”. This is not true because if the man is an established businessman, why should he wait for payment from anybody to pay you $3,000 for your services? From experience, in Zambia, cheques of over $20,000 are not usually issued for immediate payment.
If there is delay in paying you, he may promise you to pay you a smaller amount by borrowing from his colleagues whilst the bigger amount pending is being “processed”. Do not fall for this fallacy; he is just trying to buy time before he disappears. Insist on giving you the transaction number for the transfer and ask him to fax or e-mail you a scanned copy of the bank transfer. If he does not do it, then you are being cheated.
He will show sympathy to you for the delay in payment and promise to compensate you for the inconvenience or loss of business as a result of the delay. There is no one who can compensate you for your loss as a result of his inaction. Why he should compensate you anywhere?
When you talk him in stern language, he will tend to forget some of the facts about your deal. For example, he will give you a wrong figure of how much he owes you or in some cases he might forget the exact details of your agreement.”I’ll be able to pay you for the sale of your house (the deal was to rent the house not to sell it!) by next week. Don’t try to correct him as you talk to him and see how far he goes in cheating you! This gives him more rope to hang himself. An agitated con man loses focus because all his “generator” of tricks comes to a standstill when he is challenged.
There will be a general pattern in the way he is giving you excuses. He may say “I am sure all will be fine by next Monday, considering the weekend is around the corner, and Banks don’t work at weekends”. The weekend is his best time to give you excuses because he knows you’ll be busy with Church Service and other social functions. If you tell him that you have a busy schedule, he will encourage you to attend to them without worrying how much he owes you. He might even tell you that he is also have a busy schedule at “Church”. This gives him a break to devise more excuses for you for the coming week!
When you send him an e-mail to query or clarify anything, he will not reply to it. Instead, he will ring you. Why is this so? Because an e-mail can be reproduced in court as incriminating evidence. A telephone call, unless recorded, can not be reproduced.
The same goes for SMS you send to him. Most of them will be answered by a verbal conversation.SMS can, however, be converted into printable format on the higher version cell phones and pocket PCs. If you have a cell phone that can record a conversation, arrange to make some recordings of them. The only setback is most cell phones that record; make a bleeping sound every five seconds during recording. A cleverer con man would be alerted by this and avoid his voice to be recorded.
When you talk to him and you put him under pressure, he will tend to stammer and speak in low tones. Some con men tend to talk very fast so that you can not get what they are trying to tell you.
He will not answer some of your calls and later say he had left the phone in the car as he was in the Bank organising for the money. This is not true because why leave the phone in the car when he could have just switched it off? When he is not answering the phone it means he is still planning how to tell you another convincing story at the next conversation.
He will tend to “over respect” you, by referring to you as “Boss”, “Father” or “Big Man” most of the time, when you speak to him. This is to give you a false of sense that he is an honest man. What he really means is “You fool” or “Sucker” you will never get your money!
When you ring him, after he has not given you a reason for not honouring his earlier promise, he would tell you something like “Let me come back to you as I am in a meeting now” or “I am driving”. If he does not ring you as promised, then you are rest assured that he will not ring back!
If you ever meet him, and he is carrying more than one cell phone, if you notice that he changes SIM cards, be assured that he has more “customers” than you. If someone calls him and he answers any of the phones, take note of how he responds. Is he cutting off the caller? Is he saying “Let me come back to you?” If he says more than one sentence, note whether his conversation with the caller is friendly or hostile? Con men have a lot of people chasing them and trying to catch up with them.
If whilst talking to him, and he rings someone else, note whether he is talking loudly or quietly. The latter indicates that he is consulting someone for advice. If he talks in a language or slang you do not understand, he is probably up to no good.
Do not tell him, on the phone, that you are aware that he is just cheating you. There is a danger of him fleeing before you confront him.
Confront him without notice, and do so in the presence of at least two witnesses. You don’t have to give him the full details of your witnesses at first. If one of the witnesses is a law enforcement officer, you can only reveal this to him at an appropriate time. Introduce him by his true name and tell him that he is a friend or relative.
General Guidelines
Establish the true identity and authenticity of the person you are dealing with. If he claims to be a businessman, ask for his business cards and establish the premises where he is operating from. Do not deal with briefcase businessmen.
Find out what business he has done with any organisation, ask for proof of that or make an effort to check for yourself, if you know someone in that organisation. Most big organisations have a computerised system of their Suppliers and Contractors. An established business would have done business with several organisations, so you have a way to double check the information given to you.
Take photos of the vehicle he is using and if possible his own photo. You can ask someone to take a photo of yourself and him as you do transactions together. If he refuses to have his photo taken do not force him as you may chase a potential good tenant. If need be, do so without alerting him.
All payments to you should be done by direct deposit into your Bank account either by cash or a bank transfer. Bank transfers should be confirmed before payment is considered done. Do not listen to information like “The money will reflect on your account in two days’ time.”
Do not give him goods or services before payment is done. A Bank Certified Cheque only becomes cash once you see it reflected in your account. Do not be cheated that the goods or service are required urgently. You may told something like “We are running behind schedule on the Project which must be completed before next Independence celebrations”. There is no urgency for anything unless proof is shown that human life is at stake.
Do not accept to be invited to go to his Bank to witness the deposition of the money into your account. Why should you witness the transaction when you can check if it has been done on your own?
Do not accept payment to be given to you in cash in an isolated place. There is a danger of the money being grabbed from you soon after “payment” or the “money” may be counterfeit.
Do not accept cash to be given to you even if it is in a Bank. You could be arrested right there, if the money turns up to be counterfeit, when you try to deposit it in your account. The con man would have slipped away from the scene and leave you to face the law on your own!
Do not accept to go to secluded places alone for any meetings. Some con men use attractive young ladies as shills, to persuade you to go to some rendezvous. You could be walking into an ambush and get mugged, robbed or even worse. You should only do so go with an escort of law enforcement officers, if an arrest is planned for the con men.
Ensure than you correspond with him by e-mail which should be copied to his boss, his colleagues, your family or your friends. If he does not reply and insists on verbal conversations by phone, start recording them!
Do not trust information given to you verbally by third parties such as “We know him, he is our regular customer”.
You should be concerned if he calls you from a different cell number he has not previously called you from, unless you were given the other number at the beginning. Why should he use different cell phone numbers? If you notice that one of the numbers you knew before is no longer in use, this should alert you that he has just successfully conned one victim and has thrown away the SIM card!
Crooks are everywhere; some of them work for reputable organisations you would not expect to do harm to you. Crooks in these organisations do their criminal activities behind the backs of their bosses. Before you commit yourself, verify that you are dealing with genuine people in the organisation. This is of course not easy, unless you presume that, all are not genuine until proven otherwise! In this case use your personal judgement or intuition. Put it in prayer for God’s guidance.
Do not give him your physical address until you have established his true identity and authenticity.
If you suspect that something is amiss, do not show him at first. This should only be done when all indications point to the fact that you have been dealing with a con man.
Houses for Rent
Establish where he is currently residing and ask him why he is shifting from that place. You could be dealing with a habitual rent defaulter. If he renting the house he wants to vacate, find out from his current landlord why he is changing accommodation.
If he says he is shifting because he wants to move into a bigger house, find out who are members of his family and meet them if possible. You may be shown some photos of the children and wife stuck in a purse. This is not usually a guarantee that the family is still together. Some men, who have turned into crooks, usually have their wives running away from them, and they keep their photos as a means of solace.
If he tells you that the wife is out of the country for studies, find out which institution she is at. A lot of con men have no clue about foreign universities.
When the tenant is shifting into your house, be suspicious if all or most of the household goods being put into your house are new. You will notice that furniture, bedding and cooking utensils are removed from wrappers. These could have just been bought on hire purchase from a furnishing company. You could be dealing with someone who will not pay for them and disappear after sometime. Find out where the old household goods are if you were told that tenant has shifted from another place.
Avoid doing all your transactions by correspondence. A lot of people are conned due to the fact that they are not able to track what is exactly is happening on the ground. If you are renting your property which is in another town or city where you live, take time off to travel there and meet the potential tenant in person.
Avoid delegating transactions to your child or spouse, unless they have legal rights over the property.
Do not send him your personal documents such as Title Deeds, Certificates and IDs in colour, by electronic or mechanical means. Some Conmen can use these to forge them for criminal activity. If you have to send them, do so in black and white format. As an additional precaution, ensure that the documents are embossed with “Scanned Copy” written across them. Such documents should only be sent after seeking legal advice if you are not sure.
If some renovation work is required to be done, and the tenant agrees to pay for them, ensure that he is not given access to the premises until full payment is done. The date of the effective date of the start of the tenancy period should thereafter, be agreed in advance by both parties. This should be clearly stated in the Tenancy Agreement.
Renovation work should be supervised by people you have appointed and approved by the tenant. You should have access to all the documentation regarding the renovations. The scope of work and a bill of quantities approved by both parties should be put in place. Do not depend on information from third parties.
You should not sign the Tenancy Agreement until full payment has been done. Do not accept partial payments in the hope that more will be done later.
Vehicles for Sale
When you advertise you car in the press do not send a picture of it, just describe what it is. There is no vehicle in the market that is known how it looks like. If you send a photo of it, you maybe met by a group of “interested people” who want to buy it in a car park. They would then tell you to drive them to a place where payment will be done in cash. In the process your car could be grabbed from you or you could get hurt.
Describe your vehicle in simple language. What you should remember is you are selling a vehicle which is subject to viewing and inspection before purchase. Don’t use flamboyant language such as “full house” or “immaculate condition”.
Do not allow potential buyers to take the car for a “test drive” on their own. You will never see it again!
Do not allow yourself to accompany potential buyers for a “test drive “with them. You could be attacked in the process. If a test drive is insisted, let it be done with the assistance of law enforcement officers or garages.
I personally do not like sticking “For Sale “stickers on vehicles, especially expensive ones. It attracts a lot of attention and con men are always on the look out for such vehicles and plan how to steal them from the owners.
The Showdown
When you realise that you have been conned and you still have your property or services not yet delivered, do the following:
Confront him in the presence of witnesses; if possible get a law enforcement officer disguised as a friend or relative.
Do not shout at him or show anger. An angry man is not focussed on the issue at hand. The right approach is to stay cool. Some victims of con men have turned into villains by assaulting the cheating person. This would complicate the case being handled.
Tell him in the face that you have lost confidence in him.
If he still tries to show you that he is not a crook, tell him that you will take audio and or video recordings of his commitments in the presence of witnesses. Immediately send these recordings and photos to him by e-mail and copy it to interested parties. The con man is almost certain to flee once he realises that his false promises he had just made have been disclosed and are now known by more people! A con man depends on buying time to plan more falsehoods. If he is taken by surprise he flees.
Introduction
The author has been prompted to write this article after experiences he and some close friends had at the hands of con men.
Con men always exploit a given circumstance in order to make monetary gains out of it.
Such a circumstance is usually brought out by a need to improve one's financial position. One may need to improve sales of goods in a shop or to rent out some property or services for cash.
The con man would study the financial position of his potential victim before he strikes.
It is my hope that a number of the readers who were likely to become future victims of these people would take precautions to protect themselves.
This article does not claim to be the "be-it-all" or a "crime-busting" manual to prevent one from being conned.
The author takes no responsibility for loss or gain incurred by the reader as a result of the advice or opinion given in this article.
Case One:
Hardware Shops
Non Government Organizations (NGOs) are renowned for doing a very commendable job of supplementing Government efforts in undertaking developmental projects in the country. This is more so in rural areas where they are involved in projects such as building orphanages, schools and healthy centres.
NGOs are known to be well funded by the foreign countries that sponsor them and if any supply company is approached to provide some goods they are usually assured that the payment will be prompt. This is unlike other institutions who take longer to make payment for services rendered.
It was in 2007 during the Heroes and Unity holiday, which extended from Sunday up to Tuesday, when a group of four young men came to one city on the Copperbelt.
The day was a Saturday at around midday; one group went to an IT and computer hardware shop and presented a Bank Certified Cheque to the manager of the shop worth $5,000 for the purchase of five Computers for an orphanage in the Northern Province.
Meanwhile another group went to the industrial area and approached a hardware shop with another cheque for $2,500 for the purchase of some electrical cables for the same orphanage.
At the computer hardware shop they did not encounter any problems. However, at the other shop they were told that there were only cables worth $1,500 in stock and the rest could be collected from their warehouse which was a few kilometres from the shop.
The owner of the shop selling cables saw an opportunity to make a good profit. He organized to purchase the remaining cable from nearby hardware shops at $850 which he sold to the unsuspecting NGO officials.
Whilst the men were waiting for the other cable to be delivered, they were feted by the shop owner who was glad to make such a big sale a few minutes before the shop closed at 12:45 hrs. Up to this time the day has been bad for business as $150 worth of sales were realized from 8:00 hrs when the shop opened.
In order not to raise any suspicious activity the men at the cable shop made telephone calls using their mobile phones to the other group who were purchasing computers for the orphanage. The three men were clad in expensive looking three-piece suits and were wearing expensive perfume which is normally used by the affluent in society. They had hired a 3 ton Mitsubishi Canter light truck which was painted with the logo of the purported orphanage. The shop keeper could therefore not suspect anything strange with the three men.
The computer shopkeeper took the cheque to the Bank before close of business where it bounced and referred to the owner of the cheque.
This information about the conmen did not filter to the cable shop owner at the time he was organizing for more cables.
The conversation by mobile phones between the con men was actually for telling the other group at the cable shop to remain calm, as police were alerted of the bounced $5,000 cheque from the computer shop. They were told to flee should they sense that the shop owner was getting suspicious.
The three men at the cable shop managed to keep calm until the cable was delivered at 13:30 hrs, some forty five minutes after the official closure time for shops on Saturdays.
During the long weekend the cable supplier heard a story of a group of men who got away with five computers using a forged cheque. This did not worry him at all because the ones who came to his shop “looked” genuine.
When the long weekend holiday was over, the cable shop businessman took the cheque to the Bank.
He was shocked when he was told that the cheque was not genuine!
For starters, a Bank Certified Cheque is never hand written except for the signature of the Bank manager. They are usually machine printed with the figures written in perforation on the cheque. Secondly, the name of the Bank had changed from "So and So" Bank Ltd. to "So and So" Bank Plc!
The man soon started to sweat profusely when he realized that he was also duped in a similar fashion to the computer shop. He was admitted in hospital with a life threatening BP of 200 over 130 mm of mercury.
When he recovered, he was given a $200 bill for medical treatment from the hospital.
His only consolation was that he was tricked out of $2,500 worth of goods which was half of the amount stolen from the computer shop. He shivered when the thought came to him if the situation had been vice versa!
Case two:
Serial Conman!
In May 2009 a man showed interest to be a new tenant of a house in the Midlands.
The owner of the house was staying on the Copperbelt.
The house required some renovations to be done before it was to be occupied. The owner agreed with the tenant, who was to do the renovations and the amount spent would be deductible from the rental fee.
The owner of the house was to be paid about $4,000 in rentals in advance for 3 months. This was less the renovation cost.
The man moved into the house and commenced on the renovations. He promised the Landlord that payment of rentals would be effected within two weeks.
The Landlord was made to check his Bank account on the Copperbelt, for the promised rental payment, on several occasions from mid May 2009. After ten days without being paid, he realized that he had been duped.
The owner of the house travelled to the Midlands without informing the tenant.
On being confronted by the owner of the house, the tenant produced a Bank receipt. The receipt showed a cheque deposit of $25,000 into the man's bank account. He claimed that it was from a parastatal Company.
On closer examination, the receipt turned up to be fake and the matter was reported to police for investigation.
On sensing danger, the con man fled and disappeared.
Police investigations revealed that a vehicle he was using, during the time of renovations of the house, was hired from a certain lady.
The hiring was at $400 per week for a "Project" in Southern Province. She had not been paid $1,400!
A man, who lured the lady into hiring her vehicle to the con man, had claimed to be working at a certain Lodge. He was, in fact, a shill for the con man. He had introduced the con man to the owner of the vehicle. He told her that the man was one of their guests.
On checking with the Lodge it was found that the con man owed $1,000 in unsettled bills!
A businessman was made to supply building sand worth about $500. He was told the stone was to be used for the house renovations. The businessman was told that the house belonged to the con man.
One man and his lady friend were made to pay the con man $800 in advance. This was for rental of the cottage of the house for four months. The couple were not aware that the house did not belong to the man at the time of payment.
They realised that they have been tricked when the lady was about to shift into the cottage on 4 June 2009. The matter was reported to Police.
At the time of writing, it was not known how many other people had been victim to this crafty man, who was believed to belong to a syndicate of con men yet to be arrested and interviewed by Police!
What is a Confidence Trickster?
According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org ), a confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or a group by gaining their confidence. The victim is known as the mark, the trickster is called a confidence man, con man, confidence trickster or a con artist.
Confidence men or women exploit human characteristics such as greed, dishonesty, vanity, honesty, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility and naiveté. The common factor is that the mark relies on the good faith of the con artist.
Just as there is no typical profile for swindlers, neither is there one for their victims. Virtually anyone can fall prey to fraudulent crimes.
Shills, also known as accomplices, help manipulate the mark into accepting the con man’s plan.
How Does One Identify a Con Man?
Though there is no foolproof way one can really identify a con man, the following may assist one to be on the look out for one.
If a promise is made to you like “The money is being deposited into your account within the next two days”, and nothing happens, he will accuse someone else for not fulfilling the promise. “You know these small banks they take longer to do their transactions”. This is not true because the transactions are done electronically. The size of the Bank has nothing to do with how fast they operate.
In order to win your confidence, you maybe told of huge amounts of payments he expects to receive from some source. For example you will be told something like “I am expecting a payment of $40,000 from one Company where I did some work for them”. This is not true because if the man is an established businessman, why should he wait for payment from anybody to pay you $3,000 for your services? From experience, in Zambia, cheques of over $20,000 are not usually issued for immediate payment.
If there is delay in paying you, he may promise you to pay you a smaller amount by borrowing from his colleagues whilst the bigger amount pending is being “processed”. Do not fall for this fallacy; he is just trying to buy time before he disappears. Insist on giving you the transaction number for the transfer and ask him to fax or e-mail you a scanned copy of the bank transfer. If he does not do it, then you are being cheated.
He will show sympathy to you for the delay in payment and promise to compensate you for the inconvenience or loss of business as a result of the delay. There is no one who can compensate you for your loss as a result of his inaction. Why he should compensate you anywhere?
When you talk him in stern language, he will tend to forget some of the facts about your deal. For example, he will give you a wrong figure of how much he owes you or in some cases he might forget the exact details of your agreement.”I’ll be able to pay you for the sale of your house (the deal was to rent the house not to sell it!) by next week. Don’t try to correct him as you talk to him and see how far he goes in cheating you! This gives him more rope to hang himself. An agitated con man loses focus because all his “generator” of tricks comes to a standstill when he is challenged.
There will be a general pattern in the way he is giving you excuses. He may say “I am sure all will be fine by next Monday, considering the weekend is around the corner, and Banks don’t work at weekends”. The weekend is his best time to give you excuses because he knows you’ll be busy with Church Service and other social functions. If you tell him that you have a busy schedule, he will encourage you to attend to them without worrying how much he owes you. He might even tell you that he is also have a busy schedule at “Church”. This gives him a break to devise more excuses for you for the coming week!
When you send him an e-mail to query or clarify anything, he will not reply to it. Instead, he will ring you. Why is this so? Because an e-mail can be reproduced in court as incriminating evidence. A telephone call, unless recorded, can not be reproduced.
The same goes for SMS you send to him. Most of them will be answered by a verbal conversation.SMS can, however, be converted into printable format on the higher version cell phones and pocket PCs. If you have a cell phone that can record a conversation, arrange to make some recordings of them. The only setback is most cell phones that record; make a bleeping sound every five seconds during recording. A cleverer con man would be alerted by this and avoid his voice to be recorded.
When you talk to him and you put him under pressure, he will tend to stammer and speak in low tones. Some con men tend to talk very fast so that you can not get what they are trying to tell you.
He will not answer some of your calls and later say he had left the phone in the car as he was in the Bank organising for the money. This is not true because why leave the phone in the car when he could have just switched it off? When he is not answering the phone it means he is still planning how to tell you another convincing story at the next conversation.
He will tend to “over respect” you, by referring to you as “Boss”, “Father” or “Big Man” most of the time, when you speak to him. This is to give you a false of sense that he is an honest man. What he really means is “You fool” or “Sucker” you will never get your money!
When you ring him, after he has not given you a reason for not honouring his earlier promise, he would tell you something like “Let me come back to you as I am in a meeting now” or “I am driving”. If he does not ring you as promised, then you are rest assured that he will not ring back!
If you ever meet him, and he is carrying more than one cell phone, if you notice that he changes SIM cards, be assured that he has more “customers” than you. If someone calls him and he answers any of the phones, take note of how he responds. Is he cutting off the caller? Is he saying “Let me come back to you?” If he says more than one sentence, note whether his conversation with the caller is friendly or hostile? Con men have a lot of people chasing them and trying to catch up with them.
If whilst talking to him, and he rings someone else, note whether he is talking loudly or quietly. The latter indicates that he is consulting someone for advice. If he talks in a language or slang you do not understand, he is probably up to no good.
Do not tell him, on the phone, that you are aware that he is just cheating you. There is a danger of him fleeing before you confront him.
Confront him without notice, and do so in the presence of at least two witnesses. You don’t have to give him the full details of your witnesses at first. If one of the witnesses is a law enforcement officer, you can only reveal this to him at an appropriate time. Introduce him by his true name and tell him that he is a friend or relative.
General Guidelines
Establish the true identity and authenticity of the person you are dealing with. If he claims to be a businessman, ask for his business cards and establish the premises where he is operating from. Do not deal with briefcase businessmen.
Find out what business he has done with any organisation, ask for proof of that or make an effort to check for yourself, if you know someone in that organisation. Most big organisations have a computerised system of their Suppliers and Contractors. An established business would have done business with several organisations, so you have a way to double check the information given to you.
Take photos of the vehicle he is using and if possible his own photo. You can ask someone to take a photo of yourself and him as you do transactions together. If he refuses to have his photo taken do not force him as you may chase a potential good tenant. If need be, do so without alerting him.
All payments to you should be done by direct deposit into your Bank account either by cash or a bank transfer. Bank transfers should be confirmed before payment is considered done. Do not listen to information like “The money will reflect on your account in two days’ time.”
Do not give him goods or services before payment is done. A Bank Certified Cheque only becomes cash once you see it reflected in your account. Do not be cheated that the goods or service are required urgently. You may told something like “We are running behind schedule on the Project which must be completed before next Independence celebrations”. There is no urgency for anything unless proof is shown that human life is at stake.
Do not accept to be invited to go to his Bank to witness the deposition of the money into your account. Why should you witness the transaction when you can check if it has been done on your own?
Do not accept payment to be given to you in cash in an isolated place. There is a danger of the money being grabbed from you soon after “payment” or the “money” may be counterfeit.
Do not accept cash to be given to you even if it is in a Bank. You could be arrested right there, if the money turns up to be counterfeit, when you try to deposit it in your account. The con man would have slipped away from the scene and leave you to face the law on your own!
Do not accept to go to secluded places alone for any meetings. Some con men use attractive young ladies as shills, to persuade you to go to some rendezvous. You could be walking into an ambush and get mugged, robbed or even worse. You should only do so go with an escort of law enforcement officers, if an arrest is planned for the con men.
Ensure than you correspond with him by e-mail which should be copied to his boss, his colleagues, your family or your friends. If he does not reply and insists on verbal conversations by phone, start recording them!
Do not trust information given to you verbally by third parties such as “We know him, he is our regular customer”.
You should be concerned if he calls you from a different cell number he has not previously called you from, unless you were given the other number at the beginning. Why should he use different cell phone numbers? If you notice that one of the numbers you knew before is no longer in use, this should alert you that he has just successfully conned one victim and has thrown away the SIM card!
Crooks are everywhere; some of them work for reputable organisations you would not expect to do harm to you. Crooks in these organisations do their criminal activities behind the backs of their bosses. Before you commit yourself, verify that you are dealing with genuine people in the organisation. This is of course not easy, unless you presume that, all are not genuine until proven otherwise! In this case use your personal judgement or intuition. Put it in prayer for God’s guidance.
Do not give him your physical address until you have established his true identity and authenticity.
If you suspect that something is amiss, do not show him at first. This should only be done when all indications point to the fact that you have been dealing with a con man.
Houses for Rent
Establish where he is currently residing and ask him why he is shifting from that place. You could be dealing with a habitual rent defaulter. If he renting the house he wants to vacate, find out from his current landlord why he is changing accommodation.
If he says he is shifting because he wants to move into a bigger house, find out who are members of his family and meet them if possible. You may be shown some photos of the children and wife stuck in a purse. This is not usually a guarantee that the family is still together. Some men, who have turned into crooks, usually have their wives running away from them, and they keep their photos as a means of solace.
If he tells you that the wife is out of the country for studies, find out which institution she is at. A lot of con men have no clue about foreign universities.
When the tenant is shifting into your house, be suspicious if all or most of the household goods being put into your house are new. You will notice that furniture, bedding and cooking utensils are removed from wrappers. These could have just been bought on hire purchase from a furnishing company. You could be dealing with someone who will not pay for them and disappear after sometime. Find out where the old household goods are if you were told that tenant has shifted from another place.
Avoid doing all your transactions by correspondence. A lot of people are conned due to the fact that they are not able to track what is exactly is happening on the ground. If you are renting your property which is in another town or city where you live, take time off to travel there and meet the potential tenant in person.
Avoid delegating transactions to your child or spouse, unless they have legal rights over the property.
Do not send him your personal documents such as Title Deeds, Certificates and IDs in colour, by electronic or mechanical means. Some Conmen can use these to forge them for criminal activity. If you have to send them, do so in black and white format. As an additional precaution, ensure that the documents are embossed with “Scanned Copy” written across them. Such documents should only be sent after seeking legal advice if you are not sure.
If some renovation work is required to be done, and the tenant agrees to pay for them, ensure that he is not given access to the premises until full payment is done. The date of the effective date of the start of the tenancy period should thereafter, be agreed in advance by both parties. This should be clearly stated in the Tenancy Agreement.
Renovation work should be supervised by people you have appointed and approved by the tenant. You should have access to all the documentation regarding the renovations. The scope of work and a bill of quantities approved by both parties should be put in place. Do not depend on information from third parties.
You should not sign the Tenancy Agreement until full payment has been done. Do not accept partial payments in the hope that more will be done later.
Vehicles for Sale
When you advertise you car in the press do not send a picture of it, just describe what it is. There is no vehicle in the market that is known how it looks like. If you send a photo of it, you maybe met by a group of “interested people” who want to buy it in a car park. They would then tell you to drive them to a place where payment will be done in cash. In the process your car could be grabbed from you or you could get hurt.
Describe your vehicle in simple language. What you should remember is you are selling a vehicle which is subject to viewing and inspection before purchase. Don’t use flamboyant language such as “full house” or “immaculate condition”.
Do not allow potential buyers to take the car for a “test drive” on their own. You will never see it again!
Do not allow yourself to accompany potential buyers for a “test drive “with them. You could be attacked in the process. If a test drive is insisted, let it be done with the assistance of law enforcement officers or garages.
I personally do not like sticking “For Sale “stickers on vehicles, especially expensive ones. It attracts a lot of attention and con men are always on the look out for such vehicles and plan how to steal them from the owners.
The Showdown
When you realise that you have been conned and you still have your property or services not yet delivered, do the following:
Confront him in the presence of witnesses; if possible get a law enforcement officer disguised as a friend or relative.
Do not shout at him or show anger. An angry man is not focussed on the issue at hand. The right approach is to stay cool. Some victims of con men have turned into villains by assaulting the cheating person. This would complicate the case being handled.
Tell him in the face that you have lost confidence in him.
If he still tries to show you that he is not a crook, tell him that you will take audio and or video recordings of his commitments in the presence of witnesses. Immediately send these recordings and photos to him by e-mail and copy it to interested parties. The con man is almost certain to flee once he realises that his false promises he had just made have been disclosed and are now known by more people! A con man depends on buying time to plan more falsehoods. If he is taken by surprise he flees.
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