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Cape Town - Hundreds of South Africans, some of whom are expatriates living in the United Kingdom, have been caught in an e-ticket scam that's left them stranded overseas for the festive season.
Those victims that are determined to be in SA with their families have had to dish up thousands of pounds in order to get into the country during peak season, after discovering they have been duped in alleged e-ticket fraud.
The Weekend Argus reports complaints of fraud that have been filed against alleged fraudster Kim Robbertse, an independent travel agent from Polokwane, who is understood to have offered fixed discounted fares via an email earlier in the year. The offer advertised open return tickets for the fixed price of R7 500 a piece. The buyers were to pay Robbertse in advance into her personal bank account.
Also See: Family robbed of R37 000 in holiday scam
Paul Swanson, a Capetonian currently living in London said he had to pay £4 700 (about R85 000) for tickets for his family to come to South Africa after discovering that the British Airways e-tickets for which he had paid Robbertse were in fact invalid. He had originally paid Robbertse R18 000 for tickets for him, his wife and two children.Teunika Carstens, a former citizen of Brits in the North West told Netwerk24 she was also allegedly cheated out of her 'pre-booked' e-tickets. She discovered this week that her whole family’s e-tickets were invalid, as the R25 000 she had previously paid into Robbertse's personal account was never paid over to Virgin Atlantic, the airline with which they were meant to fly with on Friday, 19 December.
Carstens reportedly said in a facebook post that the incident was "heartbreaking for us and those who love us".
Also see: 40 Travel scams to avoid
It was only last week when consumers started to realise that their apparent 'pre-booked' tickets were invalid. When victims attempted to contact Robbertse, they were told that "she had been in a taxi accident and that she was in a coma".
Investigations done by the alleged victims could find no records of Robbertse in any hospital or care-center in Polokwane.
Eventually Nicole Swanson tracked Robbertse down and found her to be in perfect health.
Netwerk24 reports other victims have since created a closed Facebook group called Action against KR. A few of its 232 members have since been contacted by Robbertse who reportedly told them that "she would repay the tickets as soon as her cash-flow problem clears up".
If you've experienced any similar holiday disappointment, we'd like to know about it. Please share your experiences with us at info@traveller24.com or contact us on our Facebook, Twitter or Instagram accounts.
