Social media scams on the rise
Facebook Marketplace and social media scams are on the rise and potential buyers should be aware of items, especially vehicles, that are advertised well below market value or claimed to be available for reservation prior to being auctioned.
Scamsters use several variations of a technique that involves posing as a legitimate auctioneering company and using pictures of random vehicles off the internet to lure potential buyers. They then request a large upfront deposit to “reserve” the vehicle and by doing so the vehicle will not go to auction.
Traps
“One giveaway is that they usually ask a set price and as we know in the industry this is not possible under South African law which states that no asset sold on auction may be sold at a fixed price. Rather these will be determined by the highest bidder upon the fall of the auctioneers hammer,” says South African Institute of Auctioneers’ (SAIA) chief administration officer, Sonja Styger.
She adds that these operations are becoming increasingly sophisticated with some run as fully functional enterprises and using ever evolving techniques to entrap potential victims. For this reason buyers should exercise extreme caution when buying assets on social media sites and whenever items for sale seem too good to be true, they probably are.
Alternatively one can make contact with the institute who has a register of SAIA members and can assist in identifying whether the social media adverts are legitimate. Buyers should be aware that scamsters who even use sophisticated techniques to counterfeit existing auctioneers websites and populate it with their own details to garner their trust. That is why it pays to do thorough research upfront or make contact with SAIA to establish the credentials of companies claiming to be auctioneers before parting with hard earned cash. Go to the SAIA website for more information and contact details.
