Cops warn of latest scams in Pretoria North precinct
The latest scams included paying to get a loan and scammers pretending to be sales people at a car dealership offering the buyer a cheaper price than advertised.
Police in the Pretoria North have warned residents against some of the latest scams which were prevalent in their policing precinct.
“One of the scams we want residents to be aware of is one where they receive a message informing them that they qualify for a loan,” spokesperson Sergeant Tsakani Miyen said.
She explained that the recipient of the message would then be requested to pay either access or legal fees so the money could be released into their account.
“As soon as you pay that fee, the company number will no longer be in service,” she said.
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Miyen further cautioned residents to remember that they would not have to pay any money to get a loan if they had qualified for a personal loan.
“When a person qualifies for a loan, they don’t have to pay any money because they are already in need of a loan,” she said.
Miyen said another scam they had noted in the precinct, targeted people who were looking to purchase vehicles.
She said with this scam, the scammers stood at busy car dealerships waiting for people who were interested in buying cars to pose as sales people.
“They approach you and tell you they work at the garage. They then tell you that they can help you get the car for a lesser price than the one the vehicle is advertised for,” Miyen said.
Once the potential car buyer falls for it, the scammer would then reportedly request that they [the potential car buyer] go make copies of their ID while they [the scammer] go and talk to the manager of the dealership.
“The scammer then pretends to go to the dealership office to talk to the manager. When the scammer comes out, they will request the buyer to pay them a certain amount of cash,” Miyen said.
“As soon as you pay the cash over, they will drive with you to the police station to do an affidavit, but they will drive off with the money while the buyer is inside.”
Miyen warned residents to continue to stay vigilant as the festive season approached as scammers would be hard at work to con people out of their money.
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