Even as two men were late last month charged with impersonating the First Lady, Sandra Granger, for the purpose of fleecing money from people, a 34-year-old woman from Essequibo says she was approached on social media by someone pretending to be the First Lady and offered a scholarship, provided that she paid $100,000 upfront.
Speaking to INews, the woman of Cotton Field, Essequibo, explained that earlier today (Wednesday), she received a friend request from “HE Sandra Granger” on Facebook.
Upon accepting, the woman said that she was immediately contacted by the individual, who inquired if she was interested in being offered a scholarship to study at the University of Guyana (UG).
The woman further expounded that the person provided their contact number and requested that she call them immediately.
Upon doing so, the Essequibian told this online publication that the fraudster told her that she had to pay $100,000 in “admission fees” and that on Saturday; she will be given the opportunity to meet with the First Lady to receive a $400,000 cheque to start UG.
“I was asked if I can make the payment to MMG (Mobile Money Guyana), Bill Express, or [via] phone cards. I said MMG and the woman asked if I have an account. I said no and she said MMG will take two days to activate an account. I said okay I can pay at Bill Express and she asked if I had an account. I said no. She said that will take long and that I have to pay the money today. I realised that’s a lie because MMG and Bill Express allow you to pay right away,” the woman told INews.
The person then reportedly volunteered that the 34-year-old woman make the payment via phone cards.
However, at that time, the Essequibian said she disconnected the call, and began to ignore the calls from the same number that followed.
Probed as to whether the matter was reported to police, the woman said that she intends to do so in the company of her spouse, later in the day.
Just last month, two men –identified as murder convicts Paul Lo-Hing, 35, and Wazim Mohamed, 30,- were charged with fraudulently obtaining large sums of money in phone cards from two women, while pretending to be the First Lady.
At the time that the suspects reportedly contacted the women, they were prisoners and they used mobile phones.
In those instances, the victims were also promised scholarships. (Ramona Luthi)
