The South African Insurance Crime Bureau (SAICB) has identified a new modus operandi being used by criminals.
Chief operating officer at SAICB Hugo van Zyl said that those involved will obtain information about a specific vehicle that has been booked in for a service or for repairs at the service department of a dealership, including the details of the client involved.
“It is not known whether something is done deliberately to the targeted vehicle in the workshop, to ensure that a complaint is logged, or whether the car thieves act on random complaints logged by owners at the different service departments,” said van Zyl
However, once the owner of a targeted vehicle logs a complaint, he will receive a phone call from one of the syndicate members, pretending to be either the customer service manager from the dealership’s head office, or somebody from the specific service department.
“The caller will tell the client that he is aware of the problem and will even mention the name of one of the actual employees at the dealership, with whom the client had dealt with previously,” van Zyl explained.
“He will then enter into a discussion with the client with the view to solving the problem, assuring the client that the company will do anything in their power not to cause further inconvenience and, in doing so, prevent bad publicity.”
Van Zyl said the thief then arranges for the vehicle to be picked up from the client, allegedly in order to have the problem resolved at the dealership, and subsequently disappears with the vehicle.
“Only when the victim eventually starts to enquire about the vehicle does he/she realise that the person he/she has been dealing with does not represent the dealership and that all the credentials that were presented are false.”
SAICB advises all parties concerned, specifically service providers, to take note of these bogus operators.
The public is also advised to check the credentials of persons claiming to represent dealerships and vice versa.
