It took Mavis'* niece less than an hour to get a “customer” on Facebook Marketplace to sell a six-burner Smeg gas/electric stove for R7,000.

A day later, Mavis would weep and be left with a heartache and a fake bank proof of payment after an online scammer vanished with the stove she had hung onto for years.

All it took to convince her that the buyer  was legitimate was an SMS “confirming” payment details and the buyer’s photo and ID. The photos have since turned  out to have been stolen. 

“My niece posted the stove on Facebook on Saturday and on the same day, I received a call from a man who seemed desperate to buy it for his mother whose 51st birthday was supposed to be the following day.

“He was charming and pleaded with me that I shouldn’t sell it to anyone and that he’d make a payment the same day and collect on Sunday morning in time to hand it to his mother as a birthday present,” said Mavis.

The following morning, the man texted her that he would be sending someone to pick up the stove and that he would be sending her the proof of payment for the sale.

She received the proof with his photos.

“I trusted him because I had his private information in the form of photos. I did not have a reason to doubt his intentions. I was convinced,” said Mavis, who captured the driver on video as he loaded the stove onto the van.

A driver came to collect the stove. The transaction was done, so Mavis thought.

But hours later she realised that the proof of payment was fake and no money was reflecting in her bank account.

The scammer blocked her number and all the text communication between them was wiped off from WhatsApp. 

“She also blocked my niece after she threatened to report him on social media. All that I’m left with are his fake photos, fake proof of payment and nothing to cook with,” said Mavis.

The driver who collected the stove is believed to live in the Joburg CBD and goes by the names Jovis or Thulani Sibanda.

When contacted by Sowetan Consumer, Sibanda said he could not give out the identity of the people who sent him to Mavis because they are his regular clients who pay him well and were dangerous. 

“Brother I’m a messenger, I only respond to bookings. This is my regular clients who sent me (sic). I only do what they tell me to do... I deliver to lots of places...” Sibanda said in a text.

The man also said their busiest time was at month-end and would easily make R1,000 per delivery.

*Not her real name