A Bishop Lavis mom says she was scammed out of R2000 after trying to buy a car online.
Pauline Clarke, 40, says she saw an advert on Gumtree for the blue 1992 Toyota Corolla 1.6 GLX, and immediately contacted the seller.
“I saw this ad for a Toyota Corolla for R36 600 last week Wednesday,” she explains.
“The seller replied on Friday. He called and introduced himself as Kenneth.
“He said my monthly instalment would be R1500, to which I requested an instalment of R2000 per month (in order to pay it off quicker).”
The seller, “Kenneth Nyambi”, posed as a senior sales executive from the “Muller Auto Group from Beaufort West” and advertised the car with 204 660km, a full service history and no accidents to date.
Pauline says she felt at ease as the car came with a valid roadworthy certificate and spare keys.
She says she wanted the car that weekend and Nyambi called on Saturday morning asking for the first instalment.
“I asked how I will get the car since they are located in Beaufort West, to which he replied I must pay my first instalment for the courier services.
“I hesitated and agreed to pay the R1000 upfront and the other R1000 on delivery.
“He also asked me to transfer the money at Shoprite or Pep Stores,” says the mom.
He sent her a copy of his ID, and the sales agreement on a company letterhead, which looked authentic to her.
“He called me after the payment and said the courier company doesn’t agree to the terms and that I must make the payment in full.
“I paid in the other R1000 around 4pm on Saturday. I called and texted and received no answer or reply. His ad from Gumtree was also missing,” she adds.
Realising she had been taken for a ride, Pauline says she went to the Bishop Lavis Police Station, where she was advised to contact the SAPS Fraud Department.
She tried calling the number provided, but says no one answered.
“I don’t care about getting my money back, I just want to warn other buyers,” says Pauline.
The Daily Voice investigated and found Muller Auto Group is actually located in the USA and has no branches in SA.
When the Daily Voice called Nyambi about Pauline, he put the phone down.
He then sent an SMS claiming: “Am not allowed to speak to the media, will give your number to someone authorised to speak to the media.”
No one had responded by the time of publish.