{"id":6010,"date":"2024-11-20T15:00:22","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T15:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/?p=6010"},"modified":"2024-11-20T15:00:23","modified_gmt":"2024-11-20T15:00:23","slug":"mother-daughter-lose-us5k-to-uk-relocation-sponsors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/?p=6010","title":{"rendered":"Mother, Daughter Lose US$5K to UK Relocation Sponsors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><br>Crimes and Courts Correspondent<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A Bulawayo mother and daughter have fallen victim to a UK sponsorship certificate scam, losing US$5,730 to two women, Nokuthula Sibanda and Nothando Ndlovu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The scam began in March 2023 when the mother sought Sibanda&#8217;s help to secure a sponsorship certificate for her daughter&#8217;s UK relocation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Scam Unfolds<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sibanda, allegedly working with Ndlovu, promised to facilitate the process for US$230 (registration fee) and USD5,300 (processing fee). The mother paid these amounts on May 2 and 3, 2023, respectively. The accused assured her daughter would travel to the UK by August 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Red Flags and Arrests<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, repeated follow-ups yielded inconsistent information, prompting the mother to report the issue to the police. This led to Sibanda and Ndlovu&#8217;s arrest and arraignment before the Bulawayo Magistrates&#8217; Court. They have been remanded in custody, with a court date set for November 18, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A Growing Concern<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This case highlights the increasing trend of fraudulent UK sponsorship and visa scams targeting desperate Zimbabweans. Scammers exploit Zimbabwe&#8217;s high unemployment rate, offering fake employment promises and certificates of sponsorship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prevention and Awareness<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To avoid similar scams:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Verify authenticity: Research and confirm the legitimacy of sponsorship and visa services.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Be cautious of hefty fees: Legitimate services usually don&#8217;t require exorbitant payments.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Report suspicious activities: Alert authorities to potential scams.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Stay vigilant, and let&#8217;s hope justice is served in this case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Zim GBC News\u00a92024<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Crimes and Courts Correspondent A Bulawayo mother and daughter have fallen victim to a UK sponsorship certificate scam, losing US$5,730 to two women, Nokuthula Sibanda and Nothando Ndlovu. The scam&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6011,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[125],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime-and-court"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6010"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6010\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6012,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6010\/revisions\/6012"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}