Cargo Fraudsters Are Back
Oct 30, 2002
If you receive a call from a clearing agent that you have received a package from abroad and therefore should pick it up form the airport, don’t get excited so fast, for it may be the beginning of your woes.
With John Kamya
If you receive a call from a clearing agent that you have received a package from abroad and therefore should pick it up form the airport, don’t get excited so fast, for it may be the beginning of your woes. The conmen who pretend to be working for clearing and cargo handling firms are back in town and they are fleecing unsuspecting members of the public of big amounts of money.
It all starts with a call from someone who identifies himself as a clearing agent working either for Entebbe Handling Services (ENHAS), Roka Bond or any other clearing firm. He then informs you of your consignment that has just arrived from your relative in the UK or USA. (In most cases the conmen will have done some research on you and will know exactly the name of your relative, the country in which they are living and your telephone number either at the place of work, or the cellular one). It is not clear how these conmen get all these details.
The conmen usually ask their victims to pay part of the handling charges for the cargo which is in Entebbe.
After getting some money, they drive their victims up to the airport and somehow enter some offices at the airport from where they emerge with papers they claim are assessment forms for payment of the handling charges. At that point, they ask for more money from the victims “to be paid in the bank as handling charges.†They will ask for your cellular phone to call someone and as they pretend to call, will disappear. Both the money and the phone will be gone.
On October 17, 2002, one Komakech received a call from a man calling himself Andrew Kasumba, who identified himself as a the in-charge of cargo at ENHAS. He informed Komakech of the arrival of two boxes from the UK bearing Komakech’s names. And when Komakech insisted on seeing the consignment first, he vanished.
For Godfrey Kamoga, however, someone calling himself Tom Ssegawa, claiming to be working for ENHAS, called him using the same phone number as that of Andrew Kasumba. Kamoga lost sh300,000 plus a mobile phone in the deal.
The management of ENHAS acknowledged the fact that some conmen are using their company’s name to fleece people, especially those upcountry, of their money.
“When cargo arrives, clients are informed by telephone or fax if indicated on the airway bill and the original copy of the arrival advice is posted, informing them that their cargo has arrived at the airport. We advise them to pick it or to appoint a clearing agent to assist them,†said an ENHAS official.
He said people should call ENHAS on phone numbers 320768/071-755577/075-692126 and that all payments for ENHAS are made at UCBL, Entebbe Airport Branch.
Crosscheck with your relative abroad if they have sent you any cargo. If you smell a rat, don’t hesitate to call the police. Ends
If you receive a call from a clearing agent that you have received a package from abroad and therefore should pick it up form the airport, don’t get excited so fast, for it may be the beginning of your woes. The conmen who pretend to be working for clearing and cargo handling firms are back in town and they are fleecing unsuspecting members of the public of big amounts of money.
It all starts with a call from someone who identifies himself as a clearing agent working either for Entebbe Handling Services (ENHAS), Roka Bond or any other clearing firm. He then informs you of your consignment that has just arrived from your relative in the UK or USA. (In most cases the conmen will have done some research on you and will know exactly the name of your relative, the country in which they are living and your telephone number either at the place of work, or the cellular one). It is not clear how these conmen get all these details.
The conmen usually ask their victims to pay part of the handling charges for the cargo which is in Entebbe.
After getting some money, they drive their victims up to the airport and somehow enter some offices at the airport from where they emerge with papers they claim are assessment forms for payment of the handling charges. At that point, they ask for more money from the victims “to be paid in the bank as handling charges.†They will ask for your cellular phone to call someone and as they pretend to call, will disappear. Both the money and the phone will be gone.
On October 17, 2002, one Komakech received a call from a man calling himself Andrew Kasumba, who identified himself as a the in-charge of cargo at ENHAS. He informed Komakech of the arrival of two boxes from the UK bearing Komakech’s names. And when Komakech insisted on seeing the consignment first, he vanished.
For Godfrey Kamoga, however, someone calling himself Tom Ssegawa, claiming to be working for ENHAS, called him using the same phone number as that of Andrew Kasumba. Kamoga lost sh300,000 plus a mobile phone in the deal.
The management of ENHAS acknowledged the fact that some conmen are using their company’s name to fleece people, especially those upcountry, of their money.
“When cargo arrives, clients are informed by telephone or fax if indicated on the airway bill and the original copy of the arrival advice is posted, informing them that their cargo has arrived at the airport. We advise them to pick it or to appoint a clearing agent to assist them,†said an ENHAS official.
He said people should call ENHAS on phone numbers 320768/071-755577/075-692126 and that all payments for ENHAS are made at UCBL, Entebbe Airport Branch.
Crosscheck with your relative abroad if they have sent you any cargo. If you smell a rat, don’t hesitate to call the police. Ends