Hi all, so I think that I've been scammed by pvtechstore.co.za online store supposedly based in Cape Town(the address shows a storage unit facility).

I bought a 10kw Kodak Inverter from them and was promised by their webpage that it would be delivered within 3 working days, it's been 4 days since they sent me their invoice ro acknowledge payment.

Their phone number is disconnected and they do not respond to emails. I checked up on their website and it was only created in July 2022. And Google maps foe their address is just a storage park.

Has anyone had any dealings with PV Tech Store?

Also, if I have been scammed what can I do about it. The payment was by eft so there is no recourse from the bank's side. This should have been the first red flag for me. 

Any help or advice would be much appreciated. 

If someone from this online store reads this please contact me, this lack of communication is very disturbing. If the order is delayed for any reasonable issue, I would appreciate being told of it instead of being ignored.

Regards,

Theo

6 minutes ago, Theo_N said:

pvtechstore.co.za

They have many products too close to or under cost, so most likely scam site.
Maybe I am wrong, there are so many of these scam sites and new ones coming online everyday.

Rule Of Thumb - if the price looks too good to be true then usually it is.

Always compare prices to known legitimate sites, if the difference is too big then again, most likely a scam site.

Hi Theo I Might have done the same mistake,have reported the problem with fnb fraud line.Would advise you to do the same.

On 2022/08/31 at 10:14 AM, WannabeSolarSparky said:

They have many products too close to or under cost, so most likely scam site.
Maybe I am wrong, there are so many of these scam sites and new ones coming online everyday.

Rule Of Thumb - if the price looks too good to be true then usually it is.

Always compare prices to known legitimate sites, if the difference is too big then again, most likely a scam site.

 

16 hours ago, JannemanG said:

Hi Theo I Might have done the same mistake,have reported the problem with fnb fraud line.Would advise you to do the same.

Yep, I spoke to a lady at that storage facility and she said that she's had numerous calls about this scam.

I also reported it to Standard Bank Transactional fraud division. Was told that most of their complaints involve either Capitec or Bidvest accounts.

Expensive lesson learnt, next time I pay more and buy from an established and trusted business 

Same happened to me, and have made a case and reported it to standard bank and see they have ties to cederbergenergy.co.za that was previously listed for fraud.

I do hope that some of the money can either be recovered or the bank has some kind of fraud cover, but my hopes are low.

On 2022/09/09 at 5:58 PM, Machine458 said:

This is awesome 

It appears that  pvtechstore are using old-mutual money accounts using branch code 462005 through BIDVest. Apparently these accounts have been suspended by BIDVest pending investigation. What is really disturbing is that old-mutual are hosting these scammers. Best course of action is to report matters to the ombudsman for banking services.OBS

It is always a good idea when looking at a new online store to go and check how long they have been around, you can use the co.za WHois databse to do this 

https://coza.net.za/cgi-bin/whois.sh?Domain=pvtechstore&Enter=Enter 

As you can see it was created on the 2022/07/19 16:38:27

The site is  hosted at Xneelo, is probably a dead end but you never know, if you have a case number I would give Xneelo a call and ask them who is paying the bill for this site and make them aware that it is fraudulent. 

In future I would also stay away from paying for anything online via an EFT, there is no recourse if your stuff doesn't get delivered and you can usually get a chargback put through if you pay via credit card. 

Good luck

 

 

17 hours ago, JannemanG said:

It appears that  pvtechstore are using old-mutual money accounts using branch code 462005 through BIDVest. Apparently these accounts have been suspended by BIDVest pending investigation. What is really disturbing is that old-mutual are hosting these scammers. Best course of action is to report matters to the ombudsman for banking services.OBS

Would like to know in who's name the account was opened up with @ Old Mutual, you have to provide a whole load of personal information before you can open up an account.  

1 minute ago, Sc00bs said:

Would like to know in who's name the account was opened up with @ Old Mutual, you have to provide a whole load of personal information before you can open up an account.

These syndicates usually get some unsuspecting gogo to open the accounts and pay them a few hundred rands to do it.

21 minutes ago, Sc00bs said:

Would like to know in who's name the account was opened up with @ Old Mutual, you have to provide a whole load of personal information before you can open up an account.  

That information regarding the account holder, they will not disclose as yet pending their investigation that is unfortunately how the laws works.

There are however a name Siphiwe involved in the returning fake emails from pvtechstore. Apparently if its an old mutual money account then according to old mutual its private accounts not companies. They do however have BIDVest accounts through old mutual as I have mentioned earlier.

9 hours ago, WannabeSolarSparky said:

These syndicates usually get some unsuspecting gogo to open the accounts and pay them a few hundred rands to do it.

Pretty much, or use stolen/ compromised accounts

9 hours ago, JannemanG said:

That information regarding the account holder, they will not disclose as yet pending their investigation that is unfortunately how the laws works.

There are however a name Siphiwe involved in the returning fake emails from pvtechstore. Apparently if its an old mutual money account then according to old mutual its private accounts not companies. They do however have BIDVest accounts through old mutual as I have mentioned earlier.

The lady at the storage facility said that when she called the number on the website, the guy answered as Simphiwe Ndele and then he cut the call and never answered again.

Pv tech store was using a old mutual money account with BIDVest bank and the registered account name is Mr Mogale from Alberton .with 84 id number first didgets

It must be made public that old mutual are adding and abetting criminals to defraud the public.Any one else that have been scammed by them must open a case against old mutual money accounts for their part in this matter. 

On 2022/09/15 at 8:14 AM, Sc00bs said:

Would like to know in who's name the account was opened up with @ Old Mutual, you have to provide a whole load of personal information before you can open up an account.  

It was opened by a Mr Mogale residing Alberton it has been confirmed it is a Old Mutual Money account and that the account name is Mr Mogale not Pv tech store .These payments should have been rejected by oldmutual/bidvest.

On 2022/08/31 at 10:05 AM, Theo_N said:

Hi all, so I think that I've been scammed by pvtechstore.co.za online store supposedly based in Cape Town(the address shows a storage unit facility).

I bought a 10kw Kodak Inverter from them and was promised by their webpage that it would be delivered within 3 working days, it's been 4 days since they sent me their invoice ro acknowledge payment.

Their phone number is disconnected and they do not respond to emails. I checked up on their website and it was only created in July 2022. And Google maps foe their address is just a storage park.

Has anyone had any dealings with PV Tech Store?

Also, if I have been scammed what can I do about it. The payment was by eft so there is no recourse from the bank's side. This should have been the first red flag for me. 

Any help or advice would be much appreciated. 

If someone from this online store reads this please contact me, this lack of communication is very disturbing. If the order is delayed for any reasonable issue, I would appreciate being told of it instead of being ignored.

Regards,

Theo

Hi Theo please contact me on 0616602781 so we can take legal action against Old mutual/Bidvest Bank whom are solely responsible for these unfortunate events.