KEMPTON SAPS investigating officers are sitting with piles of cases relating to online scams.
Spokesperson Capt Jethro Mtshali says more and more Kemptonians are falling victim to fraud on online classifieds websites.
Since January this this year until September, the police’s investigating officers have had 39 cases reported to them. The most common cases are people buying or selling cars, TV sets or furniture.
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One example is of a woman who lost R15 000 after a “Mr Shangase”, who was selling a 2009 Ford Figo, told her to first deposit this amount into his bank account, so he could “secure” the vehicle for her. Shangase had also told her he was from a certain car dealership in Wynberg.
When she went to the car dealership to check on the car, she was told no one by that name worked there.
And the problem with most of these cases, Mtshali points out, is that they are almost impossible to crack because the con artist disappears and is untraceable.
“Most people who have been scammed don’t even know the full name or address of the person they deal with, let alone having copies of documents such as an ID. And they have never met in person. So it makes it much easier for the fraudster to get away with the crime and be untraceable,” Mtshali said.
He also mentioned that most of the cases sound more or less the same in terms of the con artists’ modus operandi.
“What we’ve noticed is that it’s basically the same method being used with all victims. Usually either a victim tries to sell or buy something online. If, for example, a victim wants to sell something, a buyer will show interest and a cash transfer will be made,” Mtshali explained.
The scammers will then SMS a “proof of payment” to the victim, which will be confirmation of the transfer.
“However,” Mtshali warns, “most of these proof of payments are not legitimate. People must remember that con artists are very good at what they do, they can even create fake templates for such digital receipts.”
So it is crucial for people to wait a day or two and then physically go to the bank if needs be and check their bank balance.
Station Commander Brig Bertha Kgoroba advises the public that before depositing your hard-earned money or giving away whatever asset you’re selling, people must ascertain the legitimacy of the deal.
“We as police obviously cannot tell people not to use these particular sites but can only warn them against the dangers and also urge people to be cautious and vigilant at all times.”
