The man arrives at the Pinetown service center to find his car gone

Empire Defense Force’s Hansel shared a scam alert on TikTok and said he was a victim of the scam.

He said he had reserved his vehicle for installation at a service center in Pinetown. He left his car downtown and when he arrived to pick it up, he was told his car had been handed over to the person he sent to pick it up.

Hansel said the service center staff told him they had received a call from him instructing him to hand over his car to a person named Calvin, who would pick it up on his behalf.

When he told them he had made no such call, they were shocked and realized they had been scammed.

Sure, there were some gaps in the story, like how the scammer knew his details and the make of his car, but maybe they were following him, or worse, a person at the service center was involved.

He said criminals are targeting vehicle owners in new ways, targeting service centers, car washes and dealerships.

It was negligent of the assembly center to simply hand over his vehicle without confirming with him first, but he did not share more details about the next steps in finding his car or the legal ramifications.

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