The message warns residents about a Rivonia commuter who was allegedly involved in an attempted hijacking on 18 June when a man threw acid in his face while he was sitting in his car.
The message, which was sent to the Sandton Chronicle, the Midrand police station and others, allegedly from the Bosmont Community Patrol said that there had been a growing trend in acid hijackings and warned residents to be vigilant while on the roads. The community patrol said that due to the new gun laws and stricter rules regarding ammunition, criminals have turned to pool acid, either kept in a syringe or small plastic bag, which was squirted or thrown into a unsuspecting victim’s face. The victim was reported to have been an alleged Discovery Health employee named Gavin Osmond.
But further investigation revealed that the warning was a hoax. According to the website www.hoaxslayer.com in a web post dated June 2006, the story had been unsubstantiated.
The message had been sent through to newspapers and websites since 2006 and recently resurfaced on whatsapp and a number of social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.
Captain Kym Cloete of the Sandton police said, “When a resident receives these crime messages they should, before forwarding it to other people, verify the story with their local newspaper or police station in order to get a proper, truthful story.”
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