Man scammed in bogus trailer sale

A TOKAI garden service owner who paid a 50% deposit for a trailer from an on-line Mossel Bay company received a shock when he realised after a few weeks that he was scammed and would not be receiving his purchase.

Daryl Garb said he found the advert for Amalgamated Sales online and he phoned for a quote to the given numbers 063 618 3295, 071 244 2202 and received a quote, almost immediately via e-mail from Malcolm sent from amalgamatedsales77@gmail.com.

Garb then placed his order with preferences on trailer colour and size and deposited R6 000, a 50% deposit into an FNB account 62654757164, Branch 210314 Mossel Bay.

“After two weeks, there was still no delivery. When I called Malcolm and asked him when the trailer would be delivered, he complained that I was rude to him.”

“People work so hard and to get scammed like this, it is just not right. I was hoping to expand my garden services and now this loss. I lost the R6 000 plus another R2 000 that I had to use to hire a trailer.

“When I contacted the business at the listed address, the owner said they received lots of calls for Malcolm.

“There were other adverts placed by him too. The other company names used are Master Trailers and Total Trailers,” said Garb.

The address Malcolm gave on the quote sheet was, Smallholding, 22 Fynbos Lane, Mossel Bay, Garden Route.

In his correspondence with Garb, Malcolm was congenial, writing, “Attached is your quote, as well as pictures to give you ideas of how the unit will look. Thank you for your most valued interest. Malcolm.”