SUDD staff allegedly scams single mother of new OPP phone

A staff member of SUDD working at the Zero Paloch Operation Base Camp (OBC) under Dar Petroleum Operating Company (DPOC) has allegedly scammed a single mother, leaving her stranded after disappearing with her newly purchased OPP smartphone.

The victim, Aluel Lual Deng, also known as Athiei, told Aweil News Agency that the suspect, identified as Chuol Ayiik Chuol, requested to borrow her phone in Melut, claiming he wanted to call his brother who was supposed to send him money. According to Deng, Ayiik vanished shortly after receiving the phone.

The phone, worth approximately USD 150, was bought earlier this January. Deng said she has spent more than a week traveling between Melut, Renk, Paloch, and Kilo Ashara in search of the suspect, following misleading information he allegedly provided when she managed to contact him using another line.

“This gentleman knows me in Melut. He came to me in the morning where I usually sell tea and asked to make a call. Later, when I reached him on my line, he told me he was in Renk. When I went to Renk, he said he was in Paloch, then Melut, and finally Kilo Ashara. Today he told me he had returned to Melut,” Deng explained.

Deng said she is now stranded in Kilo Ashara without money or food and has relied on the kindness of a fellow woman for temporary accommodation due to illness and hardship.

She warned the public to be cautious when lending phones to strangers or acquaintances, noting that some people take advantage of others’ kindness.
“Being kind these days can turn into a big problem. I just want to inform people to be careful,” she said.

Efforts by Aweil News Agency to reach Chuol Ayiik Chuol for comment were unsuccessful by the time of publication.