A GLEN Anil resident has become the latest victim of the infamous ‘stolen car recovery’ scam. The scam involves criminals masquerading as police officers and tow truck owners asking victims of car theft to pay cash to retrieve their ‘recovered vehicles’. Typically the scam involves the officials claiming the car has been ‘recovered’ in a different town or country and the owner needs to pay a sum of money via e-wallet to get it back, usually between R1 500 to R2 000.
The victim, an honours student at Durban University of Technology (DUT), did not want to be named. She said her car was stolen on Lighthouse Road more than a week ago and was allegedly recovered in a 12 hour period. What is more, the 26-year-old resident alleges Durban North SAPS officials may be involved in the scam.
She has opened a case of theft of motor vehicle and a case of fraud (theft under false pretenses) against a data capturer she believes was involved in the scam.
“I was meeting friends for supper on the night of the theft and I parked on Lighthouse Road close to the Beverley Hills Hotel. I got out of my car and made sure everything was properly locked. About two hours later we returned to the parking bays only to find my vehicle had been stolen. I traveled to the Durban North SAPS station to open a case on the same day. As I was filling out the documentation, one of the data capturers handed me a cell phone saying there was someone on the phone, she simply said ‘just speak’.
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“The person on the line identified himself as ‘Captain Mohali’ and said he was my investigating officer. At the time I didn’t think anything of it. The next day he phoned me claiming my vehicle had been recovered in Botswana. He told me the police didn’t have the jurisdiction to cross the border and that they’ve got to bring the car to the border, but that required me to pay a towing fee. He told me it would be R2 500 which I said I didn’t have. I said I would let my insurance take care of it and he said that could take months which convinced me even more. I think they prey on your emotions, I was so relieved to hear my car had been recovered that I paid R2 000,” she said.
The local resident said it was only when she paid the officer via e-wallet that she questioned what damages had been done to the vehicle.
“He told me that only the ignition had been damaged and I found that weird because I locked my door and the only way for someone to get into the car was to damage the lock on the door. That’s when I had a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. I asked him to send photos of the vehicle and he said he would within an hour. Since then I have not been able to get through to the number for more than a week. I’m so disappointed by the way this has played out, especially as it involves the police, who we are supposed to trust. I wanted to warn other residents of the scam in the hope that they don’t fall for it,” she said.
Capt Raymond Deokaran, spokesman for the Durban North SAPS confirmed two cases had been opened but could not say if members from the station were being investigated.
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