[imagesource: standret]

I don’t know what it is about 2020, but criminals in the car theft business have been finding unusually creative ways to get the job done.

I would attribute it to more time to think during the lockdown, but this new trend of ‘theft by scam’ was already in full swing in January.

In that case, second-hand motor dealerships and private sellers were being approached by ‘prospective clients’, who took the cars for a test drive and then effectively hijacked them.

Less than a year later and a similar scam is playing out, only this time the criminal doesn’t pose as a client.

As IOL reports, Tracker, one of the country’s biggest vehicle tracking companies, has sent out a warning that car thieves are stealing vehicles by pretending to be tracking technicians.

“They advise the customer that there is something wrong with their tracking device and that they need to come out to repair or replace the device,” the statement said.

“Once on site the perpetrators will claim that they need to test the device by taking the car for a test drive or they will say that they can’t finalise the repairs on site and need to take the vehicle back to the fitment centre”.

Tracker says that the problem isn’t just with one company. The criminals have targeted customers of several vehicle tracking companies.

It’s important to keep in mind is that a technician will never ask to test drive your vehicle.

Just to be safe, if you get a call from someone claiming to be from your tracker company, give it a minute or two and then call the company to verify.

You can check out Tracker’s full statement here:

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— #SidebarWithSindi (@sindivanzyl) October 26, 2020

[source:iol]