If a deal seems too good to be true, it usually is. But in a world filled with sophisticated scammers, it is becoming increasingly difficult to spot the criminals. To make matters worse, law enforcement seems to have little power or motivation to track down these ruthless syndicates.

A newspaper reader alerted us two weeks ago about the activities of “car dealers” who trap their prey on social-media platforms such as Facebook. He admitted that he had fallen for one of the scams but asked to remain anonymous. What happened, however, is real, and he provided us with all the communication and documentation.

The worst part is that the scammers continue with their activities, not even bothering to change their contact details or delete their fake social-media profiles.

Frank (not his real name) explained that he had seen a post on Facebook under the name “CMH Fleet Vehicles.” The “auction company” advertised a blue Volkswagen Caddy - a 2019 model with low mileage, available for only R50,000. Frank admits that it seemed like the ultimate bargain, but he does not keep track of car prices rigorously, and he also desperately needed a more reliable vehicle.

The advert that “Frank” responded to.

When he phoned the salesperson, a certain Joel Dlamini, the latter explained to him that the vehicles they sold were made available before going to auction. Joel told him that they could not put a reserve price on vehicles when they went to auction, so rather than taking a risk, they sold them beforehand for the outstanding balance at the finance house, plus a small profit.

To Frank, this sounded plausible, but he was still sceptical. He checked the address provided on the Facebook profile and saw that it matched the CMH dealership on Northrand Road, Boksburg. He also searched for more information online, which confirmed that “Combined Motor Holdings Limited is the leading South African Motor & Car Hire Group.”

Just to be extra sure, Frank asked the “dealer” to send him proof of the company’s registration. Within minutes, Joel sent him a SARS Tax Clearance Certificate and the company’s registration forms. After Frank provided them with his personal information, he was sent a CMH-HG Vehicle Sales Agreement.

Joel immediately started pressuring Frank to pay the deposit of R25,000 to ensure they held the car for him. All of this happened on a Friday, and he was told that if he paid the money immediately, the vehicle would be ready for collection on Monday morning.

Frank admits that he felt uncomfortable when transferring the deposit, but he was slightly blinded by the thought of soon owning an almost-new Volkswagen. He also started making plans to drive to Boksburg on Monday to collect the vehicle.

The phone number used is linked to seven Facebook profiles, with a combined following of  24,727 people.

The next day, he was called by an old friend, and he casually mentioned the vehicle he had “bought.” His friend was immediately sceptical and asked him to send the pictures and other information. The friend quickly did what is called a reverse-image search on Google and found that the same VW Caddy 1.0 TSi was advertised on Autotrader for R339,950. The photos were a perfect match, but it was clear that the vehicle was at a dealer in Germiston.

Frank realised that he had fallen prey to scammers. He phoned First National Bank, where he is an account holder, and asked them to stop the transaction. After eventually getting hold of someone who offered to assist, he was told to first open a case at the police station and then call them back with the case number. Only then would they be able to try and assist.

Frank opened a case later that day, but he could only send through the case number to FNB the next morning. When he later inquired, he was told that there was little chance of ever seeing his money again. The scammers used a Capitec Bank account, and it seems their modus operandi is to create several accounts using false IDs. The scammers apparently pay people on the street to open accounts, which are then used for fraud. The moment the money shows in the account, it is withdrawn and the account is abandoned.

Early that Monday morning, Frank went to the dealership in Boksburg, where he was promised his car would be waiting. When he asked to speak to Joel Dlamini, he was told that no such salesperson worked there. “I eventually met with a man who introduced himself as the manager. He told me that they dealt with many cases like this. Earlier that morning, a lady arrived to collect her Toyota bakkie. She had paid a R70,000 deposit and wanted to collect the vehicle. He had to break the news to her that she was the victim of con artists,” Frank told me. The manager mentioned that this is a very regular occurrence and that the police did nothing about it.

The fake profile, under the name of CMH Fleet Vehicles.

The newspaper did some very basic research and quickly found the fake CMH Facebook profile. The cellphone number of “Joel Dlamini” was still active, but he blocked calls once he realised that it was not a potential prey. His number, however, is linked to six Facebook profiles, including one for a certain Sharon Byleveldt.

On most of these profiles, such as “Pre-owned Auctions JHB” and “Bank Repossessed Cars,” posts appear of vehicles at “selling prices” well below market value. When a reverse-image lookup is done, it quickly transpires that these pictures were taken from sites such as Autotrader. The profiles were also still active, with seven posts made when we checked on Monday morning.

We wrote to the CMH Group to ask what the company has done to try and curb this type of crime. The financial director, Mr Stuart Jackson, replied the same day:

“The scam in question has been circulating for about three years, and we are no closer to identifying the source. The actions have been reported to SAPS, but understandably, they have bigger issues to address. We have placed warnings on various social media platforms with some success. A number of potential customers have been suspicious and contacted us, but we have no indication of how many others have been caught. It is impossible to know whether employees are implicated because we cannot access the source,” he said.

As for Frank – he has to accept the loss, even though it will take many months to recover. His advice to people is to never trust any deals on social-media platforms such as Facebook. “It is the hunting ground of criminals, so stay away,” he said.