Two women say they have been the victims of cosmetics con artists after they paid R1160 for make-up that never arrived.
Janine Pick said she made contact with Your Beauty Box on 30 June after seeing a post on Instagram.
“My daughter showed me the post and then I thought I would go online and buy some of their products as a surprise for her,” she says.
“After making contact via their WhatsApp number, they said they offer free delivery but they did not have a catalogue because they get products monthly, hence the special prices.
“I know a few people who sell make-up that way so it seemed OK to me and when I picked out what I wanted, it came to R360.”
Janine said she ordered two combo packs containing lipsticks, lip gloss, foundation, make-up primer, concealers, eye-lash extensions, brushes as well as an eye pencil and lip pencil from well-known brands MAC and Naked.
The Plumstead mom says she was told to pay the full amount up front and made an immediate payment to a cellphone number.
“I do not even know if it was a woman or a man that I was chatting to but they said I cannot make a normal payment because their FNB account was offline so I had to send money to the number we were chatting on,” says Janine.
“I made the deposit and they said the delivery will be made in two to three days but I am still waiting.
“When I call then it goes straight to voicemail and now they’re not responding over WhatsApp as well.
“My daughter also made contact but when they said the same thing about the FNB account, she stopped her order.”
Bellville resident Karen Bell said she had the same issue with Your Beauty Box, but she dealt with someone named Gina August.
“I paid R800 for my make-up last month and I am still waiting as well.
“I do not know what is going on because I message her all the time but just no response,” Karen explains.
“I checked online and found there is another company with the same name but a different email address.
“I also checked their followers on Instagram and it looks like made-up accounts just to make it look like they are popular.”
The Daily Voice called the number given for the make-up suppliers but the phone went straight to voicemail, while WhatsApp messages are read but only got an automated business account response.