Journalist Riaan Marais reports that the agent, who has asked to remain unnamed, was called to assist with evaluating a guest house near Whales Way on Saturday, the 11th of November, around 4 pm. Once he entered the home, he was overpowered, stripped, and robbed.
The robbers stole all of the money in his bank account via his cellphone banking app before phoning his parents with a ransom demand for R10,000. Once received into his account, the money was immediately transferred.
When a second demand was refused, the miscreants fled with his cell phone. The agent was rescued shortly thereafter when he managed to call for help through a window.
Apparently, the agent had recently sold a guest house in Amsterdamhoek and thought that the request for a valuation was based on that sale. As such, the request did not raise any suspicion.
“Unfortunately, due to the nature of the work estate agents do, they are vulnerable to these sorts of situations, which seem to be happening more and more. As an industry, we need to start talking about how to protect ourselves”, believes Adrian Goslett, CEO of RE/MAX Southern Africa.
How to protect yourself
It has previously been suggested that agents stop hosting open houses, or in the event that they do, they do so via appointment and with another partner in attendance.
“While we’d prefer that no agent has the need to take precautions, this situation, and others in the past, has shown that such a hope is naïve at best”, says Jan le Roux, CE of Rebosa. Agents could consider the following:
• Work in pairs, • When doing valuations or showing property, make sure that people know where you are and how long you will be, • Ask viewers for their ID documents; these clients need to submit to FICA assessments in any event, so why not do it before the viewing, this would surely deter criminals, • Have a panic button, • Ask prospective tenants, sellers or buyers to send you a selfie so that you know who you are meeting with. Le Roux advises, “In the case of doing a valuation, it could be good to look up the contact details of the registered owner and call them to confirm the request for the valuation. It makes sense to do your homework about the property in any case; this is just an extra step”.
Le Roux goes on to urge agents to take these safety measures seriously as it seems that this kind of crime is on the increase, “Most importantly, when any situation makes you feel uncomfortable, out of the ordinary, walk away. Many victims recall after the fact that ‘something did not feel right’. No deal is worth your life”.