No, it’s not your lucky day; it’s a procurement scam
Many people approach me for help with what they think is shoddy service, when in fact they’ve been scammed.
Mr S wrote: “In July, I was awarded a contract by the Department of Correctional Services to supply and deliver blankets to its head office in Pretoria.”
He found those very specific blankets on a bogus website created by fraudsters and paid the fake supplier R434,000 to deliver them and now he’s being ghosted.
Mr S missed a major red flag. That supposed government official was using an email address which ended in .org.za. Genuine government officials use .gov.za.
2. Don’t swipe your card at the toll plazas
An FNB customer discovered more than R5,000 worth of toll fees on his credit and debit card statements. A truck driver had been merrily going through two tolls in Mpumalanga at his expense.
FNB confirmed that people’s debit and credit cards are being cloned or skimmed by fraudsters and used at the magstripe terminals at toll gates, where no PINs are required.
The solution is to get Tap to Pay terminals rolled out countrywide asap, which is well underway.
Meanwhile, don’t hand your card to toll plaza tellers or swipe it yourself. Pay cash or tap your card instead.
3. What’s a demo car?
The term is often used by dealerships to describe cars which have done a lot more than take prospective buyers on test drives.
The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) acknowledges that demo car criteria vary widely in the industry.
However, there are standards.
For starters, a so-called demo car must have been used by the dealership for demonstration purposes. At best it should not have done more than 10,000 kilometres and must be under 6 months old.
At a stretch, a car which is a year old with up to 15,000 kilometres can be called a demo.
NADA says luxury brands may extend these limits to 20,000 kilometres and one year.
Cars sourced from car rental companies or those traded in by customers do not qualify as demo vehicles under any circumstances.
Now you know!
4. Don’t opt for a third-party claim if you have your own insurance
If you have a car accident and you strongly feel the other party was at fault, it’s natural to want to claim on the other person’s insurance policy rather than on yours. It's understandable to want to avoid paying an excess and possibly losing your no-claim bonus.
That’s a really bad idea. As a third party, you’ll be held partly to blame for damages to both cars, the legal argument being that you failed to keep a proper lookout and take evasive action.
Your payout will be dramatically reduced accordingly.
In addition, the other person’s insurer won’t pay any towing fees and third-party claims usually take many months to settle.
5. Looking for holiday accommodation?
You don’t have to go via an online booking platform, in fact, a good way to avoid fraudsters and possibly a higher tariff is to book directly with the venue.
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