Vereeniging Vehicle Scam Warning

Cell phone in handA Junk Mail user has informed us a Vereeniging Vehicle Scam. It works in similar ways as the Klerksdorp Vehicle Scam we warned you about a few years ago. Please take note of the similar way that these scammers operate. This is the user’s story:

“I received a call from a man called Paulus (using 083 7702608 and 079 8026543) that he was interested to buy my vehicle. He said that his colleague was in Vereeniging and would meet us at the bank to to the transactions on the vehicle. So my brother and I drove to Vereeniging.

A man called Thomas (using 073 291 2410 and 074 4113074) called and asked if we could meet at a local restaurant. We agreed and picked him up. He asked us if we would mind stopping at a friend who had the cash and then drive to the bank. We agreed again, picked up an Indian bloke and drove to the bank.

While stopping in front of the bank, the Indian bloke unzipped a little container with a lot of hundred Rand notes in it and then revealed a bank sash with diamonds in it. My brother immediately asked them to get out of our vehicle and that we wanted no part in it. The Indian bloke got out immediately, but the dark skinned man (Thomas) tried to reason with my brother. My brother stood his ground and refused to have dealings like this in our car. Eventually he got out and said that he would meet us at my bank. We drove to my bank and waited for the man for a while, but then decided to go home.

In a conversation with a friend of mine working for the South African Police Service I was informed that my brother and I were in serious danger. If we did not chase these men out of our vehicle they would have lead us to an insecure location where some corrupt police men from the area would have raided our vehicle and would have found the diamonds and money. They would have beat us up and also have escorted us to an ATM. And if we do not oblige or had the money they wanted they would of hurt us seriously or possibly killed us.

Hope these numbers which I supplied may help in further such incidents or at least warn some people (in a similar position). Please be careful when you’re selling vehicle using classifieds.”

If you’ve been a victim of if you have encountered a scam like this, please report it to our Customer Care department via ccc@junkmail.co.za or telephonically on 012-3423840 x2295 (during office hours).

Spread the word about this scam. Share this article with your friends on Facebook and Twitter. Remember: Sharing is caring. If you share this article it could mean that someone doesn’t get caught by these criminals or others with the same modus operandi.

If you need more info about scams, check out the Junk Mail Safety & Security page.

Henno Kruger

Digital Marketing Campaign Coordinator at Junk Mail Publishing.

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24 Responses

  1. Arthur Botha says:

    An interesting article.
    On the 9th January 2009, I had exactly the same experience in Vereeniging. A carbon copy, set up by crooked cops from the Vereeniging Police station and included the station Superintendent and a Captain Richard. I had a motorcycle for sale and was asked to meet the buyer at the Wimpy in Vereeniging. He did not pitch and phoned to say he was at McDonalds and asked me to pick him up there.

    I went to McDonalds and met the man who identified himself with a Namibian passport. He said he did not have the money with him and asked me to take him to 3 Rivers shopping centre where he was to collect his money. I did this and when we got to 3 Rivers, he asked me to park in the parking and wait for him. He returned with an Indian man who simply opened the passenger door of my car and climbed in. The buyer clibed into the back of my car. The Indian had a leather bag which he opened and it was full of neatly packed R100 notes. He told the buyer that he did not have all his money and the buyer told him he was not interested in a part payment upon which the Indian suggested we proceed to ABSA Vereenigng where he would draw the balance and pay him all the money owed to him. The Indian man left and we proceeded to ABSA and the buyer went inside to meet the Indian only to come out and tell me that he had not arrived but had called him to say that he was at his other shop in Sebokeng and we should meet there. I told the buyer that I would take him to Sebokeng but that he would have to find his own way home and proceeded to Sebokeng. On arrival at Sebokeng I was directed to a house next to the shopping centre and asked to wait while the buyer checked to see if the Indian man was at home. He returned a few mintes later and told me that the Indian man would arrive in a few minutes and invited me to wait inside. Within 30 seconds of my entering the house, the front door was kicked in and 6 men in plain clothes, all with various types of weapons, revolvers and pistols burst in and yanked me out of the chair and stood around me with weapons drawn and pointed at my head. I was accused of drug smuggling and diamond dealing and stripped of my wallet, credit cards and R1600 in cash. I was told in no uncertain terms that I would be thrown into a black prison and would be repeatedly and no one would find me for at least 14 days and that I was unlikely at my age 66 to survive the ordeal.I was then offered a deal R50,000 and they would release me. They escorted me to the local ABSA Bank and stood with me when I drew the cash. They then escoretd me to my car where they demanded I hand over the cash. I agreed but only if they returned my wallet and cellphone. We then exchanged the cash for my wallet and cellphone and I was allowed to leave. They had taken my R1600 in addition to the R50,000.

    On arriving home I received a call from Captain Richard who demanded more money and when I refused he told me that he knew where I lived and they would come and arrest me. I asked for his banking details and he gave them to me after which I informed him that I was not paying anymore money and that he should come and arrest me but also that he should understand the circumstances would be very different to those where I was held wit 6 weapons pointed at my head and that I looked forward to introducing him to my 12 bore shotgun. I handeed the matter over to the Gold and Diamond squad for investigation but have had no further information.

    This is a police setup and a blatant abuse of the power vested in them and it seems as though they continue unabated. The response from the buyer was to an advert placed in the Junk Mail.

    • Henno Kruger says:

      Thanks for sharing this story Arthur

      • Joseph says:

        The same diamond scam happened to me on Friday 15th October 2013.
        Romeo phoned, interested in my vehicle ad in Autotrader.
        was told to meet at CTM Vereeniging, Romeo called…no taxi so meet at KFC.
        Then on to meet diamond buyer…white guy (Jonathan).
        Diamonds appeared, I was translator. Then had to go to owner of diamonds (Domingo) to confirm deal. I was asked to produce R1000 for his BnB bill…I refused.
        Romeo called Jonathan, said his brother was getting rest of the money together…must meet in Lenasia at Engen.

        Another dark black man approached vehicle and directed us two km’s to a black township.
        Within 2 minutes of entering a house the 6 “police” entered. Accused of drug dealing then diamond buying….jail for weeks etc. Was asked if I would like the matter to “go away”….would cost R100 000. Escorted by 3 of them to ATM…drew R5000 then off to FNB Southgate. Drew R30 000…gave it to them. Wanted the balance, told them no more left. Drove to a shell garage…they got out.
        Spt Basson called an hour later demanding balance…told him to go to hell. Then said if I paid another R40000 they could get the diamonds back and sell them…I would get R300K….told him to get lost.
        Herewith aliases and numbers :

        Romeo – 071 9592398
        Capt James – 073 6996064
        Spt Basson – 0603661354 (code name Zebra)

        e-mail beeinvestments@yahoo.com

        FNB Bank Acct:
        F Swartbooi
        62427278355
        Branch 250655

  2. S says:

    Thanks for this! Got a call today from a Fineas wanting to do a deal for my vehicle,same setup,was using the 073 291 2410 number

  3. Annelize says:

    Unfortunately this scam is not limited to vehicles but they do it with every bulky item for sale. My husband was contacted by a guy with regards to an incubator that we advertised on Junk Mail. The guy who phoned him (well-spoken in Afrikaans) identified himself but we cannot remember his name though (to avoid confusion I will call him *Tom). It happened in November 2012. *Tom asked about the incubator seemingly very interested and asked whether my husband would meet with him in Rustenburg and they could then go to the bank so that he can withdraw the money to pay for the incubator, and then they can go to the police station to sign an affidavit to confirm that we sold our incubator to him, and he will then collect it in 2 weeks’ time because he does not have any space on his truck at the moment as he is a driver from Namibia and come to South Africa often. He even asked my husband to take photos with his phone as proof that we did in fact have an incubator which we wanted to sell. My husband told him that it is too far from us as we are in Vereeniging. He then said that we must send him our bank details so that he can pay the money.
    The next day *Tom phoned my husband again and said that he contacted his boss and asked for an extra day in SA to come to Vereeniging to meet us as he had problems trying to transfer the money because he had to fill in forms and fax it to his bank in Namibia to release the money and he then has to wait a further 3 days for the money to clear and he can’t wait that long. He said he could get the cash if my husband would come and meet him. My husband told him to phone him once he has the money. Sure enough an hour later *Tom phoned back and asked that they meet at the McDonalds in Vereeniging. Unknowingly as to what is to come my husband agreed as *Tom seemed extremely interested in the incubator.
    I insisted on going with him so my husband, my kids and I went off to meet him with some photos on my phone which he asked for again. We waited a while outside McDonald then phoned to find out where he was. *Tom then asked us to come to the Kfc as he can’t get a taxi to McDonald. So off we went to the Kfc where we waited for long but still he wasn’t there. My husband phoned him again and he reassured him that he is on his way and will be there in 10 minutes….We waited once again and as just as we decided to leave, the phone started ringing and a man approached our car holding his cell phone in the air and indicating to us that it is him.
    He apologised that he was late, and said he will chat to us quickly as to not waste our time any longer. He commented surprisingly at the fact that my kids and I were there. He still got into our car (neatly dressed). I showed him the photos of the incubator in the car and he said he likes it (even though he didn’t seem too interested in the photos) and will take it. He even asked if we had more incubators as there are plenty people looking for incubators in Namibia and that we could do business. He then said that he must first do another deal before he has the money and asked if we could drive him there. When he saw that we weren’t keen he offered us an extra R5000 for the inconvenience as he casually announced that he needs to collect his money from a jeweller he took his diamonds to. He stepped out the vehicle but hang around closely as to “give us time to decide”. (I so wish that we left instead, but we were strapped for cash) We reckoned it was easy enough – take him there, he gets the cash, we get our money, do the affidavit and leave – so we agreed.
    He continuously received phone calls replying that he is on his way. He then phoned the jeweller and told him he is on his way. He directed us to where the jeweller was assuring us that he did business with them regularly. Once we got there he contacted the jeweller to let him know we there. While we waited he told us that we must say we part of the deal and that we can be trusted otherwise the deal will be cancelled and practically begged us to play along. Before we could reply a large black guy came with a small leather bag filled with neatly stacked R100’s. He also got into our car. The new guy then informed us that his boss, the owner, went to the bank to draw the rest of the money as they don’t keep all that cash in store and told us not to worry as the owner is a white guy. *Tom then said that his partner, to whom the diamonds belong, is expecting all the money and that he would have to go to him to assure him that the deal is still happening and that we will return in 30 minutes when the owner was due back with the other money. The new guy then gave *Tom a small package wrapped neatly in newspaper and told *Tom not to open it as it has already been tested and if he opens it they will need to test it again and that takes time. The new guy then got out and left.
    He then pleaded again for us to take him to the diamond owner and offered us more money. On the way there he told my husband that his partner was from Angola and spoke English and asked my husband to speak to the Angolan since his English is better. So he got my husband to do the negotiations for the deal. They then said they do not want to let the diamonds go without payment or some sort of security. *Tom said he had R15000 in his truck that he could use but that he needed it back as it was his fuel money to go back to Namibia. They then asked us what we had to give and said we only had R600 in the bank. They agreed that we could go and draw it and then at the same time pick up *Tom’s money. We then drove to the Absa. *Tom stayed in the car with us still continually receiving calls. He then asked to use my phone to contact his boss in Namibia but I did not have international calling. He got another call then left the vehicle. I quickly phoned my husband to tell him to hurry back that we can get out of there but *Tom was one step ahead and went looking for him. *Tom returned with my husband and the R15000. We then went back to the Angolan to give him the money as security. Once there they took every cent we had on us, including my son’s money and my cell phone and said that I must stay with the Angolan while *Tom and my husband completed the deal. My husband refused and they then agreed that *Tom can stay while we complete the deal. They handed us the small package and told us to go straight to the jeweller as he is expecting us. When we got there it was no surprise to find there was no jewellery store so we returned to where we left them but there was no sign of them. My husband phoned *Tom and asked him where they were and he said that they with the jeweller and they will meet us at Kfc in Meyerton. From there we went straight to the Police station only to be informed that they can’t do anything.
    Pity we never saw this scam warning before we went to meet him. These guys need to be stopped very soon!!! But what can we do as the police won’t even assist.

  4. Annelize says:

    Please post these scam numbers on one of these sites for others to find…

    http://whocallsme.com
    http://www.whycall.me
    http://800notes.com

    Always a good idea to search the numbers on the ads first!

  5. angie says:

    There is no medicine for stupidity
    On the 24 of august 2016 My wife advertised our car on OLX .We wanted to buy a small truck to help with deliveries to grow our small business .A guy with the name Joseph (Afrikaans speaking) Phoned her from cell # 0745308547 to say he is a truck driver from Namibia, said he wanted to buy the car for his nephew and that he will meet us at Makro Van der Bijlpark .We picked him up at Makro and he said he just need to get his money from somebody in town and will then pay us . Waiting in town a muslim dressed guy got into the back seat of our car and opened a bag containing a neat pile of R100 notes which he claimed was R330000.00 as a retainer .Joseph took out a small parcel and opened it .It contained one big and two small pieces of rough glass that Joseph said was diamonds .We got extremely uncomfortable and told them both to get out of the car but Joseph said that we must just drive to Nedbank where they will do the exchange for the rest of the money and he will give us an extra R20000.00 for the car .Again as I said there is no medicine for stupidity , because when we got to the bank the guy was not there and Joseph asked us to take him to a guest house to speak to an Angolan about the price he can get for the diamonds . The Angolan and Joseph got into a heated argument over the money and the exchange and the first conn happened ,he convinced me to give the Angolan R2000.00 as a measure of good faith while he gave him R1500.00. We then left to go back to the buyer .Joseph then phoned the buyer wo said that he can’t meet us at the bank anymore but at his other shop .Joseph then proceeded to take us into Sebokeng to the other shop. I told him that we will not go there but again he convinced me that it was safe and I had a firearm on me so I thought since we are already out of R2000.00 I wanted to at least get my money back .He took us to an empty house close to a big Mall and said the buyer is a little late and we must go and wait inside for him .Sitting down a few seconds later three guys stormed in with weapons drawn and said they were detectives from the drug inforcement department of the police and searched us. The one detective then asked me what was in the small parcel lying on the table and I denied knowing wat it was . He opened the packet and said it was diamonds and it was not their department but he will take it to get the value .We did not know what to say or do because we knew that were in big trouble , but kept telling them that we were there only to sell the car and Joseph kept telling them that we were part of a team selling diamonds. One of the policemen took me next door to another room and asked me how old I am. I told him and he said I will never make it in prison and that he can see we are just caught up in this.
    He then asked how much money we have and I told him we have nothing he said I must phone somebody and borrow R15000.00. R10000.00 for them and R5000.00 for the newspaper people .I phoned my son and prayed that he can help us .He heard the urgency in my voice and went to put the money into our bank account . It took about 45 minutes and then one of the policeman went with my wife to the mall after at first she refused and getting them all angry leaving me as a hostage and he drew R5000.00 from the ATM and send my wife in to draw the rest .My wife told the teller that were being robbed but she did nothing . They came back and told us to get into our vehicle and go . This happened on the 24 of August 2016 and since then one of them phoned me twice , the first time to tell me I must put a R1000.00 into the money manager at Checkers and give them the reference number and pin to his superintendent to take of our number from the register .All the time I thought we were lucky to get away with only losing money because of my stupidity ,but he phoned me again that somebody else now need a bribe. And I knew that this nightmare won’t go away.I told my wife about this and she decided to google to see if it was a scam .We could not believe when we saw how many people were caught by this scam and that it was national from Capetown to Port Elizabeth and up here in Gauteng and North West and that this one in Vereeniging seem to have started in 2009 already and is still ongoing.I find it hard to forgive myself for putting my wife in such danger and although a lot of people will say that we deserved what we got, my aim of telling you this is not to get sympathy ,but to warn other people so they can avoid falling into same trap and to try and get these people caught.

  6. Gert says:

    Please contact me if you have been a victim to this scam my email address is gertbedeker@gmail.com so we can assist the police to catch these guys and let them go to jail.

  7. Lawrence says:

    Same scam, this time Elvis phoned me on 0745308547.
    Wanted to meet in Vereeniging
    Be on the look out.

    Regards

  8. Hi

    I have fortunately escaped being scammed by 2 adverts on junkmail for ride on lawn mowers.
    and once caught out I see the same thing advertised under the following id AD ID: 65082254 the use OIK Projects and ZAR tractors out in Kimberly the website you are referred to is a .wixsite.com

  9. Piet says:

    ZAR Tractors also catch me too. Please see their advert below:
    We strive to offer quality used equipment at reasonable prices. We thoroughly inspect all of our equipment to ensure all functions operate as they should, all fluids are at the proper levels, and that there are no major mechanical issues. We operate the equipment for 20-30 minutes to ensure the equipment operates properly under a load.

    Price : R45000

    Condition: Used
    Year: 2014
    Type: Tractor
    Power: 59 kW (80 HP)
    Extras: Cabin, Diesel, 25 operating hours
    Operating hours: 25

    2 Year warranty.

    Viewings are always welcome, please call us to arrange a suitable date / time.

    Collection / Delivery
    Transport is available and arranged at cost to customer if required through a courier service. We will deliver nation wide and Worldwide locations.
    Please contact us with your shipping address for a shipping quote.
    FREE Local Pickup, Nationwide Shiping. Tracking information will be provided.
    If you are collecting in person, please contact us after payment has been made to arrange a suitable collection date / time
    Best Regards,

    Paul Howell +27 638756152 — Fax +27 866647421– zartractors@gmail.com

    ZAR TRACTORS
    619 Brecher Street
    Steinkopf, 8244
    Northern Cape
    South Africa
    Website : http://www.zartractors.wixsite.com/mysite

    • Jani Grey says:

      Hi Piet,

      Thank you for sharing this with everybody. If you have any additional information, please send it and the link to where this advert was posted on Junk Mail to scam@junkmail.co.za.

      Thank you for using Junk Mail.

  10. Freek Stegmann says:

    Unfortunately I was gullible enough to fall for the same classical “I am a truck driver from Angola” scam on Tuesday morning after responding to a call from a black man calling himself Simon, 078 330 9588.
    I was asked to drive to Vanderbijlpark to come and collect the money for a vehicle I advertised. He said he had the cash, we can just go to the bank and deposit it, he will fetch the car from me on his next trip down.
    Needless to say he had no cash so we drove to Nedbank in Vereeniging where we met an Indian by the name of Mohamed who climbed into my vehicle with a large bag full of cash. Uncut diamonds exchanged hands but the seller, the Simon who wants to buy my car, was not happy with the figure so I was convinced by them to drive to Sebokeng to fetch the balance of the money.
    This is where I should have counted my losses and gone home but due to the reason we are selling the car, to help my granddaughter, I fearfully allowed Simon to direct me to the place. We arrived at a secluded house directly which after the “police” arrived for a sting operation.
    Simon was “detained” and I was forced, surrounded by five black men posing as cops, to hand over all my bank cards and pin numbers; the extorted me of R 6,000.00 after which they let me go.
    I was scared out of my wits and would really advise nobody to even respond to call from someone claiming to be a truck driver!

    • Jani Grey says:

      Hi Freek,

      We are so sorry to hear that you went through this terrible experience. If you have any additional information regarding these scammers, please send it to scam@junkmail.co.za so that we can investigate.

      Kind regards,
      The Junk Mail Team

  11. Alana Erasmus says:

    My husband was almost scammed out of his BMW in port Elizabeth in Govan Mbeki ave north end a few years ago. Scammers phone to meet and make they interested in buying your car. First one then two. They get in and tell u to drive to pick n pay centre sidwell parking lot. Another 2 climb in d then he was told to drive to Algoa park shopping centre. A knife was held to his neck. Took his card and I’d and ring. Gave him a parcel of ‘diamonds’ wrapped in newspaper d threatened him they would kill him if he went to police. He threw the car keys into the field of grass as they got out and ran seeing they could not steal car. Opened the newspaper parcel it was glass.chips. he was scammed. He recovered keys and reported to police. Police says he was 8 th victim.. After this another African man was caught in the same way. He had to withdraw money from his account to give scammers.

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