Durban - Three women believed to be part of a syndicate that supplies fake identity documents, police salary slips and letters of employment were arrested by Durban police, the Witness newspaper reported on Friday.

Durban central station commissioner Bala Naidoo confirmed the arrests and said the woman would appear in court soon on fraud charges.

Two of the women from the “Rent an ID” gang were tracked down at an Autopage Cellular Store in Greyville earlier this week.

A fake ID and a dead policeman’s salary slip were used to take out the contract for cellphones valued at R8 000.

It is believed the women took out contracts from cellphone dealers around Durban and then sold the phones to Nigerians living in the Point area.

After the arrests, police were led to a house in Umlazi (black township)where they found 20 fake IDs, bank statements, letters of employment and other fraudulent documents.

The homeowner was arrested.

One of the women told police that a Nigerian national made the fake IDs on his computer and supplied them to her.

She charged people fees ranging from R100 to R500 (what a bargin, and saves all the standing in ques at Home Affairs) for documents to apply for loans and cellphone contracts.

Autopage Cellular manager Lloyd Moodley said that although the documents looked authentic, the women seemed nervous about filling out the application form.

Moodley said the syndicate had huge implications for business and that it was impossible to safeguard companies against fraudsters.