Pretoria - Online scammers now have highly sophisticated ways of duping people out of their money, even using credible sites such as Ebay and PayPal.
An Australian citizen was recently conned out of a Canon camera by someone claiming to be from Pretoria West in a deal he initially thought to be a legitimate exchange.
Caimein Bowyer from Sydney used the services of the e-commerce site Ebay to sell his Canon 550D camera.
He said that he struggled to find a buyer eventually and settled with the Pretoria West buyer named Harry White who used a Boom Street address in Danville.
"This Harry White contacted me through the legitimate Ebay site but then switched to a bogus site. He also verified payment through a bogus PayPal site," Bowyer said.
He said once he realised the scam he tried diligently to stop the shipment but the Australian and South African post office officials were slow and somehow this Harry White person was able to take the item without paying for it.
Bowyer said he was offered A$900 (R9 280) for the camera and White offered to pay the shipping fees as well, which he accepted.
The transaction was done and Bowyer received emails apparently from both Ebay and PayPal sites acknowledging payment from White.
Bowyer then shipped the camera to South Africa from Sydney.
But when the payment did not reflect in his bank account, he realised he had become a victim of an internet scam.
"I have reported the scam to Ebay and PayPal. They will take no responsibility but Ebay has closed White's account," Bowyer said.
The Australian postal services shipped the package. When they were unable to get it back he tried the post office in Danville which, according to the emails, agreed to send the package back to him.
In an email dated July 15, Bowyer received correspondence from the Danville post office saying that White was able to intercept the item in a different hub and took delivery of the item. This was despite them promising that they would return the package to him after he was able to convince them he was a victim of an internet scam.
"This may seem like a trivial matter but I'm sure this White man, which I'm sure is not his real name, is part of a larger syndicate."
Pretoria News