Online buyers warned of scammers
Police say scammers use new methods to scam unsuspecting residents every day. Find out more here:
Scammers are finding new ways to rob victims of their money every day, police say.
Lyttelton police spokesperson Warrant Officer Hero Gumbu said the station has received numerous complaints from people selling items online.
“Scammers are targeting people on websites like Junkmail,” said Gumbu.
“They look for people selling items and then contact them, saying they want to buy whatever is for sale. They then make the EFT deposit and send a proof of payment. However, they then say that they are in a hurry, and must pick up the item they ‘bought’ quickly.”
He said as soon as the scammers have the item they ‘bought’ they quickly reverse the payment and are never heard from again.
“We urge people to be extremely cautious when buying or selling online. Always meet at a safe place, like a police station, and never hand over any of the goods until you have the money in your possession.”
Gumbu also said there has been a substantial increase in instances of property fraud, especially online rental scams in Centurion over the past month.
Thirteen different cases were reported in two days at the Lyttelton police station.
“The scams all involve actual homes in residential complexes being advertised as ‘for rent’,” said Gumbu.
“Scammers simply ‘copy and paste’ other ads and add their own details to the fake ad. One of the scammers who targeted multiple people went by the name Jazmine.”
According to Gumbu, the scammers operate by preying on people who are urgently looking for accommodation, telling them they need to pay their first month’s rent and deposit quickly as there are other people who are also interested in renting the property.
The scammers pretend to act as an intermediary between the owners and/or residents living in the home. They then give the person looking to rent a cellphone number, supposedly of the owner or resident. The number they give out actually belongs to someone who works alongside the scammer.
This co-scammer, pretending to be the owner, then tells the prospective renter they can’t show them the house right away as they are not in town.
The scammer then calls the person looking to rent a few days later, telling them they need to pay a deposit and the first month’s rent immediately, or they will lose the option to rent to another interested party.
As soon as the deposit is paid, the scammer disappears.
“These fraudsters don’t use their bank account. They ask the person looking to rent to make the money available to them from their own bank account. This is why we cannot trace a bank account, because there aren’t any.”
He advised people looking to rent to be extremely cautious when responding to online rental advertisements.
“Do not ever pay the deposit or rent for a place you haven’t seen for yourself or confirmed that you are dealing with the correct people, such as registered estate agents.”
He called on anyone who suspects they might be dealing with a scammer or who has fallen victim to a fraudulent advertisement to report it to their nearest police station.
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