Fake H-Metro reporters on the rise, beware of being blackmailed: What to know?
Scams have come in many forms or shape in Zimbabwe, from the infamous E-Creator pyramid scheme that duped millions of their hard earned cash to Metamax and more. There is always a new thing on the block so it’s always advisable to be vigilant and stay up-to date with the latest. Recently a new scam has taken Harare by storm with con artists masquerading as H-Metro journalists and blackmailing people which included a legislator - demanding payments to ensure they don’t publish sensational stories of those targeted individuals. Organised crime is not a new thing but it has evolved in recent times. This new group seems to be targeting influential individuals but no one is off limits for them so how exactly are they doing it.
Several days ago a fake reporter approached the legislator and introduced himself as a member of the H-Metro team of journalists. This unfortunate target an MP, who represents a Harare constituency, became the latest target of this group. The scammers claimed that they had explosive details of the MP’s extramarital love affair with an unnamed woman. The fake reporter claimed that the details were so graphic that in the event that they were published, the MP would not only have his name shamed but there would be such a public outcry that he was likely to lose his seat as a parliamentarian.
The scammers proceeded to blackmail the MP, the fake reporter told the MP that he would ensure the story would not be published if the legislator paid a certain amount of money.
“He said that it would all be settled if I paid US$500,” said the MP, when he reached out to the H-Metro leadership.
Obviously the scammers used private numbers to call the victim to avoid any trace back to them. There has been a rise in many of these cases in the past few months with some victims unfortunately falling for the blackmail.
H-Metro Editor Robson Sharuko said this was not an isolated case confirming there were a lot of people posing as fake H Metro reporters.
“There are many bogus H-Metro reporters out there and it appears they have now taken steroids because they have taken their game to a whole new level,” he said.
“We keep getting all these stories of people who are saying they were contacted by H-Metro reporters whose names don’t exist among those who are employed by this newspaper.
“The stories are similar and they usually involve these bogus reporters claiming they have explosive details of this man or that woman and they want to publish these stories.
“Then, when they have pinned their subjects into a corner, they then tell them that the story could be stopped if they pay a certain amount of money.
“Sadly, others have fallen into this trap and have been robbed of their money by these people while others have resisted and approached us and we have told them that these are bogus individuals.
“For us, what is quite worrying is that our brand name is being tarnished by these people and they are also robbing people of their money.”
Four years ago, H-Metro exposed a fake journalist who was going around pretending to be a newspaper from this stable and demanding money from people and threatening to expose them in the newspaper.
Right now, a woman, who is using the mobile number 0787290489, and calls herself Nancy, has been masquerading as an H-Metro reporter.
She has been terrorising a Harare businessman who she claims impregnated his girlfriend and then dumped her with Nancy telling him that the story could be “managed” and it would not be published if they paid her a certain sum of money
So what to do?
So in the event that someone like this reaches out to you, you have to take a few steps. Firstly you have to remain calm and make sense of the situation because mostly these guys would have done a background check on you then formulate something that might align with your situation and use it against you.
Secondly you have to contact professionals to help determine if it’s all a hoax with professionals able to assess and determine if you are being scammed. The most important thing is to never fall for their hoax and send any money, no reporter of any news forum will ask for money to cover up a story.
These type of scams maybe not just be limited to these fake H-Metro reporters but they also extend to email campaigns and so many more industries but just remember if something like this ever happens to you , just keep your cool and consult professionals.
Since this a free platform we can’t bring you content as much and as often as we would like and unfortunately we won’t be able to upload some content that are time sensitive like cybersecurity issues due to strained resources. Please consider supporting us by donating to us or becoming members or you can support by advertising with us.Sign up to our newsletter so you won’t miss a post and stay in the loop and updated.
Note: To advertise on Perusee, just contact us, call or app +263 78 613 9635
Click here to Follow our WhatsApp channel
Keep comments respectful and inline with the article, also create an account and login to chat with members in our forum, get help on issues you need help with from community members.