He desperately wanted an Apple iPhone, and he'd asked his Vodacom outlet to reserve one for him. But he wasn't all that keen to pay R6 500 for it.
"And then something came over me," is how a Durban businessman describes his sudden determination to find a bargain iPhone online earlier this month.
He went on to Gumtree, the free local online advertising site, and found several appealingly priced iPhones, settling on one advertised for R3 600.
He called the cellphone number listed in the advert, and "Edmund", who had an accent that sounded Nigerian, said he would SMS his banking details to the businessman.
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He would have to transfer R2 000 into Edmund's Absa account and pay the balance when he got his phone.
The businessman, who has asked not to be named, then went to an Absa branch and made the deposit, and faxed Edmund the deposit slip as requested. He was assured the phone would be delivered to him that Saturday afternoon.
When the phone didn't arrive, he called Edmund, and was spun a typical "advance fee scam" line.
"He told me his boss had told him that the full amount needed to be paid and they would ship the goods only then, so I paid R1 600 into his account on the Monday. He then called me and told me the phone would get to me on Monday afternoon."
Of course, the phone still didn't materialise.
But the fraudster wasn't done yet. They seldom are at this point, because people usually keep on paying, not wanting to "waste" the money they'd already paid.
"This time he wanted shipping charges of R1 100! So this was my position - either I take a gamble and pay the R1 100 in the hope that I'd finally get my phone, or lose the R3 600 I'd already paid.
"So I paid that R1 100. Guess what? I still didn't get the phone, and when I tried his cell number he didn't answer."
So he SMSed Edmund, saying he was going to report the matter to the police and the bank.
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