JOHANNESBURG – Drivers of luxury cars are at risk of having their vehicles targeted by organized crime syndicates.
A new trend in luxury car thefts – involving the targeting of victims
through dealerships or social media – has been picked up by the South
African Insurance Crime Bureau.
It involves fraudsters pretending to be employees of dealerships – in
particular representatives from the service department or customer
service.
People tend to expect a speedy reaction from companies when they complain in a public forum or on social media.
Victims are either identified by their information on record at the
dealership, or through comments or complaints they post on social media
or other websites. Some of the victims have also been people who have
filed complaints directly with dealerships.
The customer is contacted by a syndicate member purporting to be
someone from the dealership. They explain that they don’t want any
negative publicity and will do whatever necessary not to inconvenience
them and offer to fetch the car from the client’s home and take it in
for repairs.
The syndicate member then makes an arrangement to pick up the car.
Only when the client contacts the dealership to find out what is
happening with the car is it discovered that there was misrepresentation
involved.
By that time the car is gone.
Six people were arrested in Botswana after they were found in possession of four of the stolen cars which they were taking to Zambia. One of them was also arrested in Zambia with a stolen car.
While the majority of the cases have been reported in Gauteng, there
have also been similar incidents in Nelspruit, Rustenburg, Klerksdorp
and Durban. “The suspects arrested are allegedly the individuals who collected the vehicles from the victims,” Van Zyl said. car owners could protect themselves
from being targeted by the scammers, Van Zyl said motorists should be
aware that social media is being used by criminals, who are watching for
posts they can use and target the writer.
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