Man kidnapped & robbed by Facebook Marketplace seller
Following a spate of robberies linked to Facebook Marketplace nationally, it seems that copycat criminals are now targeting victims in KZN.
This week, a Pietermaritzburg man wanting to buy a car engine he saw online was kidnapped and robbed by an individual posing as a seller.
According to the Mountain Rise police, the man spotted an engine that was for sale on Facebook and made contact with the seller.
He met the man in Eastwood and then agreed to accompany him to Tamboville, where the car engine was apparently being kept.
When they arrived at the property, the man was attacked, tied with tape, and robbed of his belongings, said police spokesperson warrant officer Pancheal Singh.
The attackers took the man’s bank card and forced him to reveal the pin, thereafter withdrawing money from his account.
“Two suspects guarded the complainant while one left and later returned. The victim managed to convince the suspects to let him free which they did and threatened to find and kill him if he went to the police,” said Pancheal.
However, the man was determined to bring the perpetrators to justice and the case was reported.
Crime intelligence officers, together with units from Mountain Rise Police Station, the K9 unit and local security company RZS Protection tracked down the suspects in Tamboville and arrested them on Friday.
A case of kidnapping and robbery has been registered at Mountain Rise police station, and Singh said investigations were ongoing to further link the robbers to other cases.
Other similar scams
The emergence of the crime trend in KwaZulu-Natal follows a growing trend of such cases nationally.
Recently, the two men from Randfontein on the West Rand had a narrow escape after being held hostage and assaulted during a robbery after using Facebook Marketplace.
The dramatic attack played out in Winterveld, Pretoria, in a series of events that mirrored the murder of Pretoria Rugby Club’s former chairperson, Jaco Basson, on November 12.
According to News24, Basson was killed when he responded to a Facebook Marketplace advertisement about the sale of a bakkie.
In October, another victim, Johan Pieterse, nearly suffered the same fate when he responded to a Facebook advert for a “well-priced” Nissan bakkie and went to view it in Modise Stand, Winterveld.
However, when he arrived at the location, he was assaulted and robbed of R34 000, a local publication reported.
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