Holiday scam robs 60 elderly victims after months of payments

SIXTY elderly members from the Flamingo Senior Citizens Club, in Tongaat, were left stranded and devastated after their travel agent allegedly scammed them out of R40,000 for a planned holiday.

The seniors had spent months saving for their trip only to discover there were no bookings made when they pitched up at the holiday flats.

They said the agent, who is believed to be from the south coast, had disappeared.

Kamala Reddy, the trip organiser and vice chairperson of the Flamingo senior citizens club, said they had eagerly anticipated the getaway at holiday flats in Umdloti on August 25. 

“I have been organising trips for the club for 20 years, and this was the first time I had used this travel agent. He was recommended by another senior citizen’s club,” she said

Reddy said the other senior citizen clubs had three successful trips with the travel agent and his company Peyroll Travel Express.

“I had no reason to doubt him, he came well recommended.”

"The club booked ten, six-sleeper holiday flats which came to R40 000. We had 60 seniors on the trip. Thirty eight members paid R900 each and 22 visitors paid R1000 each. We had to pay a 50% deposit of R20 000. The rest of the money was to be paid in instalments from this time we had booked in February until the week of the trip in August. 

“Most of the seniors had paid their money – which was not easy to rake up,” added Reddy.

She said when they arrived at the resort, they phoned the travel agent.

“I told him we had arrived, and he said that he had an issue. He said that someone left the tap open in one of the flats and it had flooded, causing the other units to flood as well. 

“He kept saying he was sorting it out. We waited in the bus, hungry and tired for three and a half hours. Our oldest member was 94-years-old and he was restless. The men decided to ask for help. The agent had told us to not offload anything. 

“After a few hours when we went inside, and we told the people duty at the holiday flats our story, they said they did not know who or what we were talking about.”

The manager told Reddy that they had been  scammed.

“They felt very sorry for us but there was nothing they could do. We kept calling the agent. I was shocked to hear that we had been scammed. This had never happened to me before,” said Reddy.

“I was handling 60 seniors' money and I was devastated. I did not know how to tell them. Everyone was so upset. One of the trustees of the holiday flats came to help us after hearing the story. He said he would look for a booking but we were too upset and declined the offer. We went back home.”

Reddy said she continued to phone the agent.

“After we left, he said that he was trying to get keys to the flats and had to travel to Amanzimtoti to get them. We told him it was no use. 

“He called later and said that he will reimburse us the money - R40 000 for the rooms, R7 000 for the bus and R 5 000 for inconvenience. He said the R52 000 will be paid back the same day but instead he dodged my calls and later blocked me,” added Reddy.

She said that his work was professional like any other agency. 

“I am feeling so guilty for losing the money and for not realising he was scamming us. I have sleepless nights thinking about how my members had to rake up the money for the trip. 

“To collect money for the members to go on a trip, we are hosting a fundraiser. Hopefully we can make them happy again,” said Reddy. 

KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Paul Magwaza said, “Tongaat police have opened a case of fraud after a woman was allegedly defrauded by a suspect who promised to book accommodation for her.

“Reports indicate that the victim paid an undisclosed amount of money to the suspect’s account. On the day of the trip the suspect was nowhere to be found and the accommodation was not booked,” said Magwaza.

Tony Govender, a ward 70 DA councillor, said the Bayview senior citizen’s club had also been scammed but they had managed to get their money back.

“They were concerned after they paid R40 000 to a female based in Montford. She organised a trip to the Caribbean Estates and each senior citizen had to pay R1 800 for a 5 night stay. I suspected something irregular. I knew this individual because she runs her own senior citizen club in my ward. 

“I managed to get in touch with her and told her to come clean. She said she had given the money to another agent to book the holiday. But the seniors said they phoned the management from Caribbean Estates and asked if anything was booked on their behalf. I told her if she did not give the money back, I would encourage them to open fraud charges against her. She gave them all the money back,” said Govender. 

He said he heard of the issues in Tongaat and warned all senior citizens clubs to be careful. 

“I heard of the Tongaat issue and I am not certain whether it could have been the same individual. This could be a syndicate. 

“I would like to caution our senior citizens to do their homework before parting with money. There are many reputed operators with a good track record. Do not get caught when something sounds too good, it can never be true,” warned Govender. 

 The POST