A BUDDING Mtubatuba businessman was scammed out of R5 000 by a bogus potato vendor who he linked up with on the Internet.
The young man, who recently finished his marketing and supply chain management degree at UKZN, says he took a decision to put food on his table while still looking for employment.
‘To survive I started a small business selling potatoes for domestic use in and around Mtubatuba.
‘I then used Gumtree to source potato vendors in KZN and found an advert for a vendor who said he was based in the Port Shepstone area, but promised to deliver if I buy 100 bags of potatoes,’ the young man said.
He says he decided to buy 200 bags to test the market after speaking to ladies in the KwaMsane area who sell potato products.
After depositing R5 000 cash into the bank account which the vendor provided, his problems started.
‘The potato vendor promised me the truck would deliver my order the same afternoon.
‘When this did not happen, I called him and he told me the truck had broken down en route to Mtubatuba.
‘The following morning he said another truck would load the potatoes and deliver.
‘He then demanded another deposit of R2 000 for ‘insurance’ because a different truck had to be hired to do the delivery, but I refused.’
According to the complainant, from then on it was one story after another until he decided to report the matter at the local police.
‘When I went to open a case at the Mtubatuba police station, the policeman assisting me poked fun at me, refusing to help, asking how could I deposit money into an account of someone I’d never met.’
Attempts to get a response from the Mtubatuba SAPS were unsuccessful at the time of going to print.
