04 May 2025

Police are warning car dealers, car rentals and owners against motor vehicles thieves who pose as potential buyers.

A statement from Botswana Police says since the beginning of the year, five vehicles have been stolen through test driving and six stolen from car rentals. The police say that the criminals target individuals, car owners and car dealers who advertise the sale of their motor vehicles on social media.

The criminals, the police say, contact the seller for a meeting, posing as potential buyers and in the process as one of the conditions of purchase, request a test drive. However, along the way, the criminals would ask the victim to make way for them to assess the vehicle conditions and as the victim disembark , the criminals take over and speed off, leaving the owner on the spot.

In some instances, while the vehicle is in motion, they would threaten the owner to move out of the vehicle and flee. The police say another trick used by the criminals is to entice the owner to a mall under the pretext of buying food or withdrawing money, and in the process distract the owner while they disappear to drive away the vehicle.

The police also state that the criminals can also get into a garage and pose as customers and request for a test drive, and during the drive they employ the tactics to steal the vehicle. The criminals can also pretend to be potential clients at a car rental company and present falsified identification documents to pay the required fee to hire the vehicle.

At the end of the agreement, the criminals would not show up and that would be when the company realised that all the information provided was false. Hence the police warn vehicle owners and car dealers who wish to sell their motor vehicle to exercise vigilance when selling or renting to unknown individuals, as well as to verify all the necessary information submitted by potential buyers. ENDS