Scammers soliciting money from stolen car victims are back again

Boschkop police warned motorists about a crime trend making a comeback in the east of Pretoria.

Scammers were cashing in on people who have reported their vehicles stolen, posing as police officers who can “help” them recover their cars.

“They trace the contact details of people who have had their cars stolen and then call them under the pretence that their cars have been found,” said Boschkop police spokesperson Sergeant Yeroboam Mbatsane.

This crime became widespread around 2018 and 2019 in the northern parts of Pretoria, Brooklyn, Ga-Rankuwa, Centurion and as far as Randburg.

“Usually after the vehicle is reported stolen, the victims receive a call that the vehicle was recovered and they now have to pay for a tow truck to bring it back,” he said.

“The scammers use the different SAPS ranks to convince the victims that they are police officers.”

In a recent case, a 45-year-old victim in the Boschkop area was contacted by a scammer claiming to have found the car.

Mbatsane said the scammer requested that R2 000 be paid via EFT, which the victim did.

“The victim later realised it was a scam and phoned the police,” he said.

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t help because the money was already gone.”

Mbatsane warned motorists to beware of the trend and not to pay for any police services unless they were given a receipt as proof of payment.

“The only services our clients are requested to pay for are fingerprints,” he said.

“The rest of the services are paid for by the state including towing of recovered stolen vehicles.”

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