Mobile toilet leads to a shocking robbery in Winterveld. Photo by Gallo Images
IT SEEMS social media crime is on the rise.
Unsuspecting women are often targeted by syndicates on Facebook’s Marketplace.
Daily Sun analyses incidents that have left Mzansi shocked.
A 58-year-old woman from Maubane, North West, said she was kidnapped by nearly 10 men armed with knives and firearms.
Alvina, an emerging farmer, saw a tractor on Facebook Marketplace and was interested in buying it, not realising it was a scam. She began communicating with a man on Facebook about a second-hand, non-functional tractor valued at R70 000.
Alvina said when she went to view it in January 2024, she was held captive from 9am until 5pm.
Her brother transferred at least R11 000. Thieves withdrew R1 000 from her bank card and beat her up for not using a banking app.
Alvina’s 35-year-old son was also robbed and hijacked last November in Winterveld, Tshwane, by at least five armed thugs after he showed interest in buying Mag rims on Facebook Marketplace.
He wanted four Mag rims with tyres for R4 000 for his Golf Velocity 1.4. Scammers took R630 in cash and their cellphones and withdrew R17 000 through a banking app. Both cases have been reported to the police.
Another woman regrets going to buy an ice-making machine in Winterveld, Tshwane, on Friday, 8 November.
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The 31-year-old woman from Kempton Park in Joburg told Daily Sun she had never heard of the scam called skanai.
She saw an ice-making machine advert on Facebook Marketplace and started chatting with the ‘thug’ via WhatsApp unaware he was duped.
She said the shocking incident occurred around 10.30am when they were kidnapped in Winterveld again and released around 3pm in the bushes near Odi Cemetery.
The advertised machine was priced at R11 000, while a new one typically costs R35 000.
She was not hijacked, but thugs took her bank and shopping cards.
“They took my iPhone 12 worth almost R17 000, my OPPO cellphone worth almost R9 000. They also took my T-shirt and jacket, which I was wearing, and a new dress worth R500 I bought the same day. My handbag with make-up and accessories was also taken,” she said.
The victim reported they took R300 in cash and sent themselves R2 000 and R200 e-wallets. At night, they bought airtime and vouchers and sent themselves another R5 000 and aR7 000 e-wallet.
In another incident, a female sangoma from Atteridgeville, in Tshwane, was robbed of a VW Polo in Winterveld while attempting to buy another VW Polo advertised on Facebook.
The incident occurred on Monday, 21 October 2024.
According to police, the victim saw the Polo advertised for R40 000. Upon arriving at Extension 3, Mhlaombe, in Winterveld, they were met by a young boy who directed them to another location.
Four men approached them, and one suspect brandished a firearm, ordering the victims into nearby bushes.
The suspects searched and robbed them, taking a VW Polo and two cellphones. They demanded that the victims access their banking apps, but due to insufficient funds, no transfers were made. The suspects fled in the stolen vehicle, leaving the victims stranded in the bushes.
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