A DURBAN North resident has been scammed out of R3 000 after she was told her stolen car had been ‘recovered’ by a towing company in Johannesburg. According to Capt Raymond Deokaran, spokesman for the Durban North SAPS, the woman later found out that the company who claimed to have found her vehicle, didn’t exist.

“Her car was recently stolen in the Durban North area. She was contacted last week by a towing company saying the car had been recovered in Johannesburg and if she paid an amount of R4 000 it would be delivered to Durban. The resident said she didn’t have that cash and managed to bring the price down to R3 000. However, after depositing the amount into an account, she decided to phone the ‘company’ only to find it did not exist.

“The scam artists were able to get her to part ways with her cash and unfortunately, her vehicle has still not been recovered. Though this is the first case we’ve had at our station, I urge residents to be wary of this scam. Typically if your car is recovered, the investigating officer from the SAPS will contact you. The transportation of the vehicle to the pound is done by the police. We are unsure how the scam artists managed to get her particulars and if they were linked to the theft,” he said.

Like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter to keep up-to-date with local news