Western Cape police have warned against buying cars advertised on social media. Officials have picked up on a new fraud trend where criminals target those looking to by second-hand cars.

Vehicles are advertised at low prices to lure customers, who are then asked to pay a deposit to secure the deal. Once the deposit is paid, the seller becomes unavailable.

Police spokesperson in the Western Cape, Colonel André Traut, has advised the public to insist on a police clearance certificate before negotiating to buy cars.

“Although the South African Police Services does not discourage the use of social media platforms to do business, we wish to warn the public to treat online advertisements with caution,” said Traut.

Meanwhile there has been an uptick in remote jamming of vehicle immobilisers in the run-up to Black Friday and peak shopping periods in South Africa.

Data from vehicle tracking and recovery firm, Netstar, shows a downward trend for car-jamming incidents over the course of the year, but there has been a steep rise over the past week. Netstar says while car-jamming is relatively common, perpetrators are rarely caught.

VOC