Criminals will use every avenue available to them, mostly the internet and email data dumps, to target bargain hunters out of their savings and hard-earned cash.

An article in this week’s edition of the Middelburg Observer should have all shoppers on edge, especially online buyers, after a local disabled pensioner was scammed out of her entire R2 900 Sassa pension in a Facebook Marketplace repossessed vehicles scam.

The lady says she responded to an Uno on sale for R3 000, but when the seller heard she was dependent on a wheelchair, he coaxed her into investing in a repossessed Hilux Single Cab bakkie for R23 000.

She paid the R2 900 deposit, but when the seller pestered her for an additional R10 000, she demanded a refund, which she knew she would never get back.

Meanwhile, the consumer watchdog website SuperMarket & Retailer, issued a public notice today of general scams usually increasing around Black Friday.

According to the website, “Statistics released by First National Bank show that over R2.4b was spent in-store during 2022 Black Friday sales, while R670m was spent on online sales. FNB reports that the value of online purchases (where a card was not present) increased by 31% compared to 2021 Black Friday sales, while in-store spending increased by 18%.”

According to Ms Nazia Karrim, Head of Product Development at the Southern African Fraud Prevention Service, “These increases present more opportunities for scammers to turn consumers into victims.”

SuperMarket & Retailer broke down the most lucrative scams:

• Spoof shopping sites use domain spoofing where scammers use fake websites that mimic the actual websites of businesses, “Outside of the domain name, the website can look identical to the trusted site. The spoofed website might collect personal information, including payment details when you try to make a purchase, or it could download malware to your device,” the warning says.
• Account verification scams are also popular.

  It entails fraudsters asking for personal information to secure an account, by calling, text message or email, that looks like it is official communication from a company, most notably banks, during which scammers alert victims of suspicious activity on accounts.

  Banks will never ask for your pin on any platform, ever.

• Billing error scams also catch many unsuspecting victims.
• Facebook scams encapsulate most of the fraudulent activities and include cons such as asking consumers to pay a fee in advance and not sending the product, presenting flyers for products that are on a malicious or proxy website, or charging extremely low prices for products, with the latter enticing the local pensioner to part with a full month’s Sassa income.

“If it’s too good to be true, it’s a scam,” the pensioner warns.

• Get your copy of the Middelburg Observer this week for more on the vehicle scam.