A website of imaginary cars

Non-existent dealership offers cars at bargain prices, leaving victims of the fraud in tears.

There are many crooks advertising goods at attractive prices on social media and online advertising platforms, trying to cheat people out of a few hundred or a few thousand rands. Then we have Jonathan, Kyle and Wendy, who pretend to work for a big used car dealership with its own website and 108 cars on offer.

The cars apparently on offer by “Kysna Auto” are all in good condition, come with a roadworthy certificate and a guarantee, as well as free delivery countrywide. The cars are available at a fraction of the price other dealers would charge.

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A shiny blue 2020 BMW 320i M with only 81 000km on the clock is available for R145 990. A 2017 Mini Cooper that has done less than 100 000km can be yours for just under R43 000. A 2017 VW Tiguan is on offer for under R25 000.

Jonathan – if that is his real name – explained that the cars are discounted because they have been repossessed by different banks and are available at the low prices before going on auction.

Calling Jonathan from different phones pretending to be interested in different cars resulted in different stories as he tried to rush a sale.

One story was that the auction would be starting within two hours and he could remove the car from the listing if a buyer pays a deposit of R24 000 within the next 20 minutes.

Another tactic to pressure a quick transfer of money was that there were several people interested in the car.

However, as a buyer you would not be able to view the car until you have paid a deposit.

“You will not be allowed entry into the warehouse without a buyer’s code. Pay the deposit and I will send it immediately,” he says. “You cannot drive there.”

Spelling

If the incorrect spelling of the company name – Kysna instead of Knysna – is not enough to make potential “customers” think twice before paying money over to this lot, the invoice should be a definite warning.

The invoice spells the company name three different ways with lots of spelling mistakes – Knysna Autos, Knysa Auctions and Knysna Auctios.

Suspicious invoice

Source: Received from Kysna Auto/Knysna Autos/Knysa Auctions/Knysna Auctios

View a pdf of the invoice here.

Another red flag is that the dealership does not have its own bank account. Payment has to be made to a personal bank account, with Jonathan explaining that this is because of the vehicle being removed from the auction.

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A quick drive to Knysna to the address on the invoice reveals the reason for the crook’s insistence not to visit: The address in Knysna’s main road is that of a car dealership – but it is a branch of Group 1 Auto selling new Chery cars.

The Chery sales manager, Hansie Nel, says people show up from time to time after they have paid money to the fake car dealers and received nothing.

“A woman sat here crying a few weeks ago. She paid R70 000 for a car that simply did not exist,” says Nel.

“The police have been here several times. Ask the other dealers down the street, they have the same stories to tell.” ADVERTISEMENT: CONTINUE READING BELOW

He says he has realised that crooks arrive after hours and on weekends to take pictures of the cars and the showroom to use in fake advertisements.

Stolen pictures

All the pictures on the Kysna Autos webpage seem to be stolen from other dealerships.

Searching the internet for the images show that the cars have been advertised by dealers as far afield as Boksburg and Port Elizabeth.

The prices of the real cars are of course much higher – the 2019 Mercedes-Benz GLE 300d offered by Kysna Autos for R205 000 is actually advertised by a dealership in Milnerton for R750 000 (on Autotrader).

Jonathan and his crowd will have found themselves in a spot of trouble when they had to explain to Capitec Bank why someone reported their bank account to its bank’s fraud department with the complaint that the account is probably used by criminals.

Wider web of imaginary car websites 

There are countless more similar rackets.

I ‘bought’ another cheap car from Premium Car Auto Sales, also operating an extensive website. It pretends to have branches in ‘Albertnshof’ in ‘Kimberly’ as well as Knynsa Central.

Other Facebook Marketplace advertisements use the same modus operandi about paying a deposit to reserve a vehicle at a discounted price before it goes on auction.

“Please read and understand the process, before a client come tom view our cars you pay 60% of the rice as a holding fee but you must send us your full names first then we open a file for you after that we send you the banking details and the reference code that you must use as reference.

“that 60% is fully refundable if you are not interested after test drive,” a salesman from Boksburg Auction Vehicles said after an enquiry about a bargain-priced VW Polo.

That ‘dealership’ also offered an address in George, which turned out to be that of a business manufacturing concrete products.

Once again, the fake dealership wanted payment into a personal bank account at Capitec, rather than a business account.

Reporting that account brought the tally of suspicious bank accounts reported to banks to seven in only five days.

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