Scammer List

[Tandemuis]

Hi to all.

I would just like to add some information to this post. 

Although scammers think of new and more elaborate ways to scam people daily, there are ways to catch them and get them to "face the music" in Court.

 

If someone tries to scam you, it is considered "attemp to commit fraud" and if they work as a team "conspiring to commit fraud". So them trying is already a legal issue. If they succeed it can be fraud and theft! Our legal system connects the amount in ZAR to the jail term. This means that the more something is worth, the longer they sit.

 

Also, the more elaborate the plan to complete their fraud and theft, the higher the penalties will be. They also have the unfortunate "premeditated" thing going for them, due to the planning part and thus cannot be seen as a "opportunistic" crime.

 

Photos:

Do a reverse lookup on photos in posts. This will show you all the websites where this photo (or photos like it) have been used. Look carefully to see if you spot the exact same photo on other sites and also note the dates. I have seen recent adds on other sites where the seller is ising a photo from 2 years ago! This will also assits you to see if the seller is asking different prices on different sites, if someone posted those pics under "stolen" items or if the seller does not own those items at all by using someone elses photos off of Twitter, Facebook or Instagram and so forth.

 

Email addresses:

.co.za email addresses needs to be considered with the same suspicion as any Gmail, hushmail, ymail and whatever email account. Do not think just because someone is sending you a reply to your advertisement from a "@mediclinic.co.za", claiming to be a nurse/doctor or any worker there, that they are. Websites, databases and email servers get hacked every day. You can even buy email addresses online belonging to legit companies. There are a lot of other ways to make an email look like it is coming from somewhere where it is not coming from. I am not going to go into all the details because I will be typing for days. However, all is not lost. A simple email to the Admin and Webmaster can sort this out.

For known companies, legit businesses and so forth, you could try the following.

99% of websites have an Admin, Info and Webmaster account. This refers to ".co.za" email accounts. Simply send a mail to "admin@" followed by the company and ending with ".co.za". Here is an example: admin@thisisanexample.co.za

 

If after 24 hours, you received nothing, then you will want to send one to the Webmaster of the site. Following the above example but instead of "admin", type "webmaster".

 

And lastly try the "info@" email account.

 

Ask them to please verify the user and email address for you. Remember they will be doing you a favor and it is not their job or duty to supply you with such information. Be nice!  Introduce yourself and start by telling them that you would like to enquire if the following email address is legit and used by someone working there. After that, explain SHORTLY that you are selling something and a person using that email address contacted you.

The above method works with well known, established businesses. Not so much with lesser known companies.

 

But what about a website that nobody knows anything about? Let's say you get an email from: mtbripper123@rippingupmtbtracksallday.co.za

 

You go online and find a website, but nobody knows of them. This is where it gets a bit difficult. You see anyone can create a website. Some sites and apps allow you to create a website for free or less than R100. To register a website is cheap. Hosting it can be free if you do it from a home setup. So a tsotsie can easily go and create a beautiful and professional looking website for free (most are drag and drop, you simply edit the text), then register it for cheap and then host it for cheap or even free. Allowing them to have  a lot of email addresses that are ".co.za".

Clearly the info, andmin and so forth will not work here, as the scammer will be in charge of those accounts also.

Well, try by checking here: https://coza.net.za/whois.shtml

Dates can also tell a story on it's own. If the site was registered very recently, well......

 

What if you get an email from a .co.za account but there is no website? Again, check the "whois" site to see what you can find out.

 

Drivers license, ID photos:

Some of the dumber fraudsters out there will willingly share this info, to "calm" you down. However....also know that this drivers license or ID photo or passport photo could be stolen. Just type in "South Africa drivers license" in Google and click on images....you will find a lot! Someone sending you a photo of their license, ID or passport, doesn't actually mean anything. It could not even be theirs!

 

Phone numbers:

With the whole RICA law, things are a bit more difficult for the tsotsies, however not impossible for them. Pre registered SIM cards are freely available still. The law, however states that the person the SIM is registered to, takes full responsibility for it. So if the fraudsters are using a number not registered to them, then the person who gave/sold/borrowed them the SIM, is just as guilty and also in contravention of the RICA act.

 

Even if the number does not belong to the fraudster, keep that information. It has to be registered to someone somewhere...

 

Catching 1 guy, can lead to a whole syndicate being caught and brought to book. 

 

Please keep in mind that to Google a number can lead you down the wrong path. In South Africa, we recycle numbers. This means that if someone doesn't pay their account and the number is cutt off, after a couple of months the number is recycled back into the system and given to someone else. This also applies to "pay as you go" users that don't use their SIM within a year (last time I checked. Could be less or more now).

 

By now we all know more or less what the MO is on most of the scams out there. 

 

Remember...you having a "feeling" doesn't mean someone is guilty of anything. 

 

However, if a known MO is seen or the person did it more than once, say something! If someone tried to legit defraud you, go to SAPS. Tell them what happened. Tell them you suspect this person of trying to commit fraud. Give them all the info you have. Sooner or later that person will make a mistake and then all the piled up stuff against them can be used. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 12, 2022 by Tandemuis
Added photo section

[Matt]

Another scammer targetting wanted ads. Will either contact directly or push you to WhatsApp on the following number:

071 146 4456

[Scott roy]

Just got a scammer warning from bikehub then got a WhatsApp via a business account.  phone number +27791755198. 
Managed to send photos of a bike previously sold on the hub a few years ago before I blocked him

Edited January 17, 2023 by Scott roy

[Phil Williams]

Scammer called Jaco contacted me wanting to sell a RS Coil.
See MO below:

Please check out the following:
-Whatsapp Business account.
-The Whatsapp name has a ".com" at the end.
-He loves to call you "Mate" / Boet in every message.

He targets wanted adverts. Always start the message with" I got your number from a mate that said you are looking for......"

Current scam number: 066 341 3267
Says he stays in the Northern Cape and signal is bad hence he can't take calls. Won't use Bikehub Secure pay

He uses stolen ID cards to have as proof.

[Phil Williams]

15 minutes ago, Phil Williams said:

Scammer called Jaco contacted me wanting to sell a RS Coil.
See MO below:

Please check out the following:
-Whatsapp Business account.
-The Whatsapp name has a ".com" at the end.
-He loves to call you "Mate" / Boet in every message.

He targets wanted adverts. Always start the message with" I got your number from a mate that said you are looking for......"

Current scam number: 066 341 3267
Says he stays in the Northern Cape and signal is bad hence he can't take calls. Won't use Bikehub Secure pay

He uses stolen ID cards to have as proof.

Update, seems its the same JACO HENRY GOUWS ID that's been doing the rounds

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

On 2/3/2023 at 12:40 PM, Phil Williams said:

Scammer called Jaco contacted me wanting to sell a RS Coil.
See MO below:

Please check out the following:
-Whatsapp Business account.
-The Whatsapp name has a ".com" at the end.
-He loves to call you "Mate" / Boet in every message.

He targets wanted adverts. Always start the message with" I got your number from a mate that said you are looking for......"

Current scam number: 066 341 3267
Says he stays in the Northern Cape and signal is bad hence he can't take calls. Won't use Bikehub Secure pay

He uses stolen ID cards to have as proof.

Thanks, the business account has always been a sign of someone being reputable. Will definitely be more skeptical in future.
Refusing the use Bikehub pay and then not accepting calls would send me running though!!!

 

Edited February 6, 2023 by Steven Knoetze (sk27)

[Treddy]

Scammer alerr

[Matt]

Scam alert:

This user was specifically targeting folks with wanted ads earlier today:

Phone: 0784383352 (comes up as a Business account on WhatsApp - common tactic to appear legit)
Name used (fake name): Muhammad Ishard Bhana
User name: tecrider 

[JayLow]

On 3/6/2023 at 9:33 AM, Matt said:

Scam alert:

This user was specifically targeting folks with wanted ads earlier today:

Phone: 0784383352 (comes up as a Business account on WhatsApp - common tactic to appear legit)
Name used (fake name): Muhammad Ishard Bhana
User name: tecrider 

Trying to sell me some stans wheels at a too good to be true price 

 

[Bomberman]

Hi All.

There is a guy targeting wanted adds on here and Facebook and using the name Ryno Van der Walt. Hes got Rynos ID and photos so it looks real and, seems to have scammed a few people already.

Hes using these two number

+27 60 579 5552

+27 71 868 2421

[Matt]

Another new number for the wanted ad scammer:

+27 71 055 2346 / 071 055 2346

[Kyle_Hanger]

 we should add a watermark to Bikehub ads it can be highly useful to see an ad taken from Bikehub a mile away and can disable fraudsters from reusing advertisments. Might even be useful to have a tab similar to "stolen bikes" that can be used as a fraud database that can show aliases and methods that are being used.

 

The watermark was mentioned earlier by someone else

Edited June 22, 2023 by Kyle_Hanger
Needed to add clarification

[Matt]

14 hours ago, Kyle_Hanger said:

 we should add a watermark to Bikehub ads it can be highly useful to see an ad taken from Bikehub a mile away and can disable fraudsters from reusing advertisments. Might even be useful to have a tab similar to "stolen bikes" that can be used as a fraud database that can show aliases and methods that are being used.

 

The watermark was mentioned earlier by someone else

Agreed, it's something we'll look at soon. It seems to be more of a problem of late with numerous reports of fraudulent ads on Facebook marketplace using images from ads on Bike Hub. 

The fraud database is also something we'll consider more. This forum section and threads like this are intended to address that, but it could benefit from better organisation & searchability.

[Grant-K]

https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/item/dual-suspension-mountain-e-bikes/659604/folding-electric-bike

 

The second day this guy is trying his luck.

His number is 084 015 0126

Mostly cheap Surron adds.

I did a google image search and the pics come from ebay.

Edited August 1, 2023 by Grant-K

[fanievb]

a lekker tool to check scam websites (and a few other tools), managed by SAFPS

https://yima.org.za/

They even have a chrome add-in 

 

[KingKevin]

On 1/17/2023 at 4:57 PM, Scott roy said:

Just got a scammer warning from bikehub then got a WhatsApp via a business account.  phone number +27791755198. 
Managed to send photos of a bike previously sold on the hub a few years ago before I blocked him

This happened to me last week, the scammers name is 'Terence' now and he also got my number from his 'mate Jason', cellphone number is 0633426036 and he told me he is from Port St. johns in the Eastern Cape.