Consumer Alert: Fraudulent Practices in the sale of Pre-owned Motor Vehicles

The Competition and Consumer Authority (CCA) has noted with concern a rising number of consumer complaints emanating from fraudulent businesses selling pre-owned motor vehicles mainly around the Mogoditshane area.
• The CCA has discovered that most of the fraudsters are not properly licensed enterprises as per the Trade Laws of Botswana.
• The fraudsters obtain money from unsuspecting consumers, by giving the impression that they would supply the required vehicle(s) at an agreed time.
• The motor vehicle is either not supplied at all, or if is supplied, it has huge defects
• Consumers have been deceived into paying sums of money either as a deposit, or at times even the full cost to kick start the process of securing and delivery of the required vehicle(s).
• During investigations, the CCA is unable to locate these fraudsters because they do not have legitimate documents to trade, and do not even have places of operation.
• Consumers continue to be defrauded of their hard earned money.
The CCA therefore, wishes to alert the public against such fraudsters. The consumer is requested to undertake the following measures:
• Always request for proof of trade documents before committing to buying a vehicle;
• Always request for proof of existence of the motor vehicle in question, e.g., registration papers;
• Refrain from carrying large amounts of cash for motor vehicle transaction;
• Use bank transfers as the preferred mode of payment for these types of business transactions.
The CCA informs the public and the consumers at large that, taking such precautions can minimise the number of such fraudulent transactions.