18 hours ago
R3 million ‘Mark Hermanus' online dating scam: third suspect arrested by Hawks
A third suspect has been arrested for an alleged online dating scam that cost the victim R3 million.
A third suspect has been implicated in an online dating scam that saw a woman lose R3 million in the name of fictitious love, back in 2024.
The victim said she developed an online relationship with what she thought was a white male called Mark Hermanus, whom she met on Facebook, the South African Police Service (SAPS) said.
After exchanging numbers, she and the alleged scammer started chatting on WhatsApp, and once they had 'gotten to know each other', he asked her to lend him money to pay the medical bills of his sick son.
But these weren't modest medical bills, and the complainant eventually parted with R3 million, which was deposited into two bank accounts.
