Update

GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - The scammer known as Kevin Adams or Thomas Grey has struck again. This time the victim is a 34-year-old mother of two from Knysna.

She came in contact with the scammer in June this year when he contacted her regarding a job opportunity as a sales rep at his company that sells personal protective equipment (PPE).

The scammer preys on female job seekers and private car sellers without giving a dime about who he takes down as collateral damage. His story is always the same and it points toward a highly calculated vehicle theft operation.

The scammer presents himself under the alias of either Grey or Adams, pretending to be an affluent businessman from Johannesburg opening a branch in George.

It is unclear how the scammer finds the contact details of his victims.

Once he identifies a victim, he contacts her about a vacancy at his company to act as a sales representative in the Garden Route area for the new branch in George.

He tells them that he does not yet have offices in George, but that there is an existing warehouse and many prospective clients. He offers a basic salary of R15 000, a cellphone, laptop, company car and garage card.

All interviews and appointments are made via telephone, WhatsApp or e-mail. Not one of his victims has ever physically met their "prospective boss".

"He sounds so legit and smart when he speaks to you. He is really clever. I did not see it coming," said the victim. 

"After applying for the job he told me that I was hired, but he first needed to find me a car to use. A couple of days later he sent me to Sedgefield to pick up a Chevrolet that he had arranged for me. The papers and the keys were in the car."

The victim was quite chuffed with her company car and ready to start her new career. But her dream was short-lived as a couple of days later Adams phoned her and told her that the car needs to be sold.

"I sold the car to people in Mossel Bay for R34 000," she said. "Neither of us knew that we were victims of this horrible scam. The new owners paid me and the deal was done. I should have known better though, as Kevin then asked me to deposit bits of the money into various bank accounts," she said.

She had to pay R24 680 into a Sasfin Bank account and two separate payments into two different Standard Bank accounts - one payment of R500 and another of R5 000. The recipients were Bitvice Pty Ltd, HostA Pty Ltd and OVX Pty Ltd. 

"None of these accounts had his name or his fake company's name attached to it," said the victim.

After the payments were done she could not get hold of Adams and it was only after she then read an article on www.georgeherald.com published earlier this year, that she realised that she, and the person who bought the car from her, had been scammed.

"I did not have any contact details of the buyer anymore, so I could not get hold of him to tell him we have been scammed," she told George Herald earlier this week.

"But on Thursday last week, 20 October, he phoned me from Mossel Bay and told me the police pulled him over and that he was driving a stolen car. The car has since been confiscated as police evidence. He is now without a car and R34 000 out of pocket and I have to go to court and pay him back his money as there is no trace of Kevin Adams anywhere," the distraught victim said.

"I have all the conversations between Kevin and me, so I can prove to the court that I was scammed and unknowingly sold the person in Mossel Bay a stolen car. It is all very embarrassing and my life has been turned upside-down. Now more than ever we have to be vigilant. People like Kevin are ruthless and he does not care if he destroys someone's life."

Two legs

The scam consists of two legs. The first one is to find and "appoint" the new sales representative. The second part is where the scammer seemingly uses his "employees" to unwittingly steal and move cars for him.

Once the appointment is made, the new rep is sent out to look at a couple of cars that the scammer (their new "boss") tells them will be used by them to perform their duties. These cars are all offered for sale by private sellers as the scammer does not deal with car dealers at all.

When a vehicle is identified, a fake payment proof is sent to the seller and the rep is told to collect the car. These sellers are innocent, private vehicle owners who are selling their cars without any knowledge of said scammer or that they could be prospective victims as well.

If all goes well for the scammer, as it did in one of the cases George Herald is aware of, the rep collects the vehicle with its documentation from the seller and leaves.

She is happy because she has a car and can start to work. But, this excitement is short-lived as the scammer then tells the rep to either leave the car at a specific location, normally in a parking lot of a shopping centre or a fuel station, as "his mechanic needs to check it out" or "signage has to be done" - or it has to be sold to someone else for whatever reason he gives.

The car gets dropped off at said location with keys and documentation left in the car, or if it is sold. The scammer shuts down communication completely and all phone numbers, websites and e-mail addresses cease to work and the rep is left facing the music as she is ultimately responsible for the vehicle.

By the time of going to print, no feedback regarding any reports or cases made against said scammer were received from the police.

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