A LOCAL resident has opened a case of fraud at the Durban North police station after she was scammed out of R4 750 in an online purchase of eggs.
According to Captain Raymond Deokaran, spokesperson for the station, the suspect, who operated under the alias of ‘Daniel’ posed as the owner of a legitimate business that sold eggs.
“The victim saw the advert on a social media messaging app and contacted the scam artist who asked for a deposit of more than R4 000.”
“She decided to purchase 25 boxes and the person operating under an alias said he could not provide a tracking number. When she enquired about her purchase days later she was informed by the suspect that the truck carrying the eggs had been involved in an accident and the driver had passed away. He added the boxes of eggs had been looted.”
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“The suspect then stopped answering his phone. When the victim found a legitimate number for the business she called them to enquire about the package only to be informed that the person named ‘Daniel’ did not exist. He was not an employee of the company nor was he the owner,” Deokaran said.
He confirmed a case of fraud had been opened and urged residents and members of the public not to fall for these types of scams.
“In this case, the business may have been legitimate, however, the person behind the scam wasn’t. We are urging residents and members of the public to do their homework and find out if the person you are speaking to when purchasing items online is legitimate,” he said.
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