Online ‘scammer’ investigated

A 75-year-old man who sought donations from fellow South African expats for a family he claimed had been critically injured in a car crash is under investigation by police.

Sergeant Scott Scherer of the Warkworth Police said police were investigating claims of potential scams posted to the Safri-Kiwi Facebook group.

‘‘We need to hear from individuals who have passed over money, and then we will link those individuals to the Facebook page that applies to them,’’ he said.

Jan Coetsee of Snells Beach, who runs the 16,000 member group, has denied the allegations and now claims he was the victim of a scam himself.

Members of his group became concerned after Coetsee posted the latest in a series of heart wrenching pleas calling for donations to help a South African couple involved in a car crash and airlifted to hospital on Labour day.

According to the post, the couple’s twin daughters needed looking after, and money was needed for a ticket to bring their grandmother over from South Africa. Donations poured in, but some group members questioned why media didn’t report the crash, supposedly involving a rock being thrown through the couple’s campervan from an overbridge.

Police, hospitals and Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust also had no knowledge of the couple, Richard and Odette, or the accident.

Coetsee brushed doubts aside, posting he had been told of a radio interview with witnesses and bystanders, and had seen a photo of the damaged camper in a news blog. He refused to disclose the parents last names and contact details for privacy reasons, and removed posts asking for donations after he was contacted by Stuff. Then he archived the Facebook group for several days.

He told Stuff a nurse named Natasha Diedricks had rang him from hospital, and asked him to contact the twins’ grandmother, Stienie Oosthuizen. He said he had spoken with the grandmother a number of times, but then someone else in a ‘‘strange, female voice’’ started to answer and asked for the money to be transferred. The donations were still intact and he had no problem returning the money.

‘‘It didn’t even cross my mind anybody would falsify details about a serious matter like that,’’ he said.