Vusi Ndlovu
Vusi Ndlovu
An identity thief gave herself away - by applying for a job with a stolen ID book.
And when victim Belinda Buswana, 30, of Tshiawelo, Soweto, met the Zimbabwean impostor yesterday she was more disappointed than angry.
The woman who allegedly stole her ID and went around incurring debts using her identity book, had applied for a security guard job when things went awry.
That was a job far from Buswana's mind and stature.
"I am an advertising executive at The Star newspaper.
"I was surprised to get a call from a man who said he was a private investigator.
"He called to verify my personal details since I had applied for the post of a security guard.
"That was shocking.
"I have never thought of being a security guard. When I arrived at their offices he told me about a woman who was using my personal details," Buswana said.
She said she had lost her identity book in a car accident in 2003 but reported it.
Buswana said the impostor also incurred debt of R10000 at Woolworths.
"I also got a call from some cellphone company who told me to come collect two contracted phones that I had applied for," she said.
She said she made affidavits in both cases to deny the credit acquisition.
When Sowetan arrived at the offices of the Analytical Risk Management in Randburg, northern Johannesburg, the two women were placed in separate rooms with the alleged identity thief oblivious that the real owner of the identity book was in the same building.
The alleged thief also got a shock when police arrived to investigate the matter and later informed her that she would be arrested.
Album Ndlovu, a private investigator, said the alleged thief had written a test and scored a 100 percent mark.
"Today (yesterday) we called her for a face-to-face interview.
"She brought in some certificates and I suspected there was something wrong when I established that her personal details in her application form did not match those of the Belinda I picked up from the system when I was checking for things such as the applicant's criminal record and if she was blacklisted," Ndlovu said.
He said he also discovered that the woman was in possession of bogus certificates and that she was a Zimbabwean national.
The woman was whisked away by police.
id fraudster bust during interview
Vusi Ndlovu
Vusi Ndlovu
An identity thief gave herself away - by applying for a job with a stolen ID book.
And when victim Belinda Buswana, 30, of Tshiawelo, Soweto, met the Zimbabwean impostor yesterday she was more disappointed than angry.
The woman who allegedly stole her ID and went around incurring debts using her identity book, had applied for a security guard job when things went awry.
That was a job far from Buswana's mind and stature.
"I am an advertising executive at The Star newspaper.
"I was surprised to get a call from a man who said he was a private investigator.
"He called to verify my personal details since I had applied for the post of a security guard.
"That was shocking.
"I have never thought of being a security guard. When I arrived at their offices he told me about a woman who was using my personal details," Buswana said.
She said she had lost her identity book in a car accident in 2003 but reported it.
Buswana said the impostor also incurred debt of R10000 at Woolworths.
"I also got a call from some cellphone company who told me to come collect two contracted phones that I had applied for," she said.
She said she made affidavits in both cases to deny the credit acquisition.
When Sowetan arrived at the offices of the Analytical Risk Management in Randburg, northern Johannesburg, the two women were placed in separate rooms with the alleged identity thief oblivious that the real owner of the identity book was in the same building.
The alleged thief also got a shock when police arrived to investigate the matter and later informed her that she would be arrested.
Album Ndlovu, a private investigator, said the alleged thief had written a test and scored a 100 percent mark.
"Today (yesterday) we called her for a face-to-face interview.
"She brought in some certificates and I suspected there was something wrong when I established that her personal details in her application form did not match those of the Belinda I picked up from the system when I was checking for things such as the applicant's criminal record and if she was blacklisted," Ndlovu said.
He said he also discovered that the woman was in possession of bogus certificates and that she was a Zimbabwean national.
The woman was whisked away by police.
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