February 2026 - The Running Mann

17th February 202617th February 2026

Anatomy of a Scam (An investigation into race entry scamming)

With unprecedented demand and road running race entries selling out across the country scammers are having a field day fleecing runners desperate for entries.

It is difficult to know whether all the scamming is done by one person using different numbers or whether there are multiple scammers. Some numbers definitely belong to the same person and there is at least one number, 0738823545, that has been in use for over six years. It is also difficult to estimate how many people have been scammed over the years but the number of victims is likely in the thousands.

15th February 202617th February 2026

Ask the Admin: How to prevent getting scammed on Facebook

With the proliferation of race entry scamming I asked Demitri Baroutsos, group admin of the popular Cape Town Runners Community, for his advice and insights on how to prevent being a race entry scamming victim.

Demitri Baroutsos is a the group admin of the Cape Town Runners Community group and helps keep the 31,000 members safe from scammers.

8th February 202618th July 2026

A List of Known Race Entry Scammers

Below is a list of South African mobile numbers confirmed to be involved in race entry scamming. Their modus operandi is to create fake profiles on Facebook so there is no point in listing the names as they are fake and will keep changing.

This list will be updated as new scamming numbers emerge – feel free to email me on therunningmann@gmail.com or DM on my social media profiles with scammer details.