1 reviews | Active since Jul 2024
*****
Good day, My name is Sikelwa Mazwi. I am not happy with SMD in East London. On the 24 of June i paid registration fee to bid for a car that was at P.E SDM, unfortunately i was not lucky but I decided to keep my money there for the next coming daily online auction. I used the whatsapp number which i got from their website to communicate with them because i wanted to know if was i gonna be able to bid in another provinces besides P.E, and the response was “yes”. I continued checking until on the 03 July 2024 i became interested on Renault Clio 2014 which was listed. I placed my bid and i was successful. I got sms stating the balance that i owe. The car opening bit was R30 000 the my bid was only R500 and time was up. After i got that SMS i got phone call telling me what was expected of me in terms of verifying my profile. Then I receive an email with an attachment of Proforma invoice. Immediately after the email with the email with proforma invoice, i got another email from SDM with the instructions of payment, my ID number, my reference, my balance, FNB account number and how i should pay. The email with invoice I received from Mr Ntongana L and the one with payment instructions i did not take note of it but it was from SDM. The profoma invoice had FNB account as well, both accounts start with “6”.I then emailed Warren which i got his e-mail address from smd website requesting to subtract R50000 registration from the balance that was sent to me ( R39818,75). The conclusion was that i was going to pay R34818,75. On 04 July 2024, i made payment to the FNB account that was sent by SDM, i assumed that the account number that was on the invoice was the same as the one that was sent to me with payment instructions. I did not notice that the account number was different. I deposited the money (R34818,75), i then sent proof of payment to all the email addresses i was communicating with. Mr Warren and Ntongana asked me which account did i sent the money to? And concluded that that was not their account number and email address. They asked me to forward the email i did that and Mr Ntongana said they can not do anything as they know any thing about that account number and email address. I told them I received that email while i was communicating with them hence I assumed that its from them. Thats how i lost my money, they mentioned that they do not sure account details via email but the invoice that was sent to me via email also included bank details or account number. Mr Warren said they never change the account number, the account number i used to pay registration fee is the same as the one they provided me with. I told him that is incorrect, the account number i used to pay registration fee is different from the one that was on invoice, hence i asked if will i have problems if i bit to different provinces. I also told them that someone inside shared my information to who ever stole my money.
Please assist.
Firstly, we must clarify that SMD strictly communicates with our clients through authorized and official channels only. All official communications, including invoices and payment instructions, are sent from SMD email addresses and never from external domains such as Gmail. It is imperative for clients to verify the authenticity of all emails and payment instructions prior to proceeding with any transactions as SMD will never communicate through non-official email accounts or request payments via unofficial channels.We would like to assure you that SMD has robust IT systems and security measures in place to safeguard our communications and transactions. Despite these strong measures, online ******** continuously evolve their tactics, making it essential for our clients to remain vigilant.We have reviewed your account and understand that you received a Proforma invoice from an unauthorized source and subsequently made a payment based on that communication. Regrettably, online ******** frequently target individuals, and despite our concerted efforts to prevent such incidents, it remains the responsibility of our clients to ensure they are engaging with legitimate communications from SMD.In this instance, it appears the payment was made to a ********** account. We strongly advise you to contact your bank's ***** department immediately to report this incident and initiate the process to recover your funds. Additionally, we recommend that you file a formal report with the South African Police Service (SAPS) to support the investigation and potential recovery of your money.Please be informed that while we are conducting an investigation into this matter, SMD cannot be held legally liable for payments made based on ********** communications from unauthorized sources. We urge all clients to remain vigilant and confirm the authenticity of any correspondence purporting to be from SMD.We sincerely regret any inconvenience this situation may have caused and appreciate your understanding. Should you have any further questions or require additional assistance, please do not hesitate to contact our customer service team.
Yours sincerely,SMD Customer Service
Firstly, we must clarify that SMD strictly communicates with our clients through authorized and official channels only. All official communications, including invoices and payment instructions, are sent from SMD email addresses and never from external domains such as Gmail. It is imperative for clients to verify the authenticity of all emails and payment instructions prior to proceeding with any transactions as SMD will never communicate through non-official email accounts or request payments via unofficial channels.We would like to assure you that SMD has robust IT systems and security measures in place to safeguard our communications and transactions. Despite these strong measures, online ******** continuously evolve their tactics, making it essential for our clients to remain vigilant.We have reviewed your account and understand that you received a Proforma invoice from an unauthorized source and subsequently made a payment based on that communication. Regrettably, online ******** frequently target individuals, and despite our concerted efforts to prevent such incidents, it remains the responsibility of our clients to ensure they are engaging with legitimate communications from SMD.In this instance, it appears the payment was made to a ********** account. We strongly advise you to contact your bank's ***** department immediately to report this incident and initiate the process to recover your funds. Additionally, we recommend that you file a formal report with the South African Police Service (SAPS) to support the investigation and potential recovery of your money.Please be informed that while we are conducting an investigation into this matter, SMD cannot be held legally liable for payments made based on ********** communications from unauthorized sources. We urge all clients to remain vigilant and confirm the authenticity of any correspondence purporting to be from SMD.We sincerely regret any inconvenience this situation may have caused and appreciate your understanding. Should you have any further questions or require additional assistance, please do not hesitate to contact our customer service team.
Yours sincerely,SMD Customer Service
But for your own information, i have already opened the case, got the case number, FNB bank is aware of this case as well as capitec bank. I have sent the proof of emails i have communicated with to SMD. I was told that SMD is still busy with the investigation and it’s been a week now since the incident happened. I would like to get a report of your investigation. Was the people whom I communicated with investigated? I would like to get a report of your findings.
But for your own information, i have already opened the case, got the case number, FNB bank is aware of this case as well as capitec bank. I have sent the proof of emails i have communicated with to SMD. I was told that SMD is still busy with the investigation and it’s been a week now since the incident happened. I would like to get a report of your investigation. Was the people whom I communicated with investigated? I would like to get a report of your findings.