Work and pay: Drivers, travel dreamers scammed

Some drivers and travel dreamers have allegedly been defrauded after depositing huge sums of money as initial payments for work and pay vehicles and promises of helping them travel abroad.

According to the victims, they made down payments of varied percentages of the total amount of the vehicles they sought to buy and the expenses of their travels to a suspected fraudulent company situated at Pokuase in Accra, known formerly as HITZ CAR RENTALS AND TRAVEL AND TOURS.

About ten of the victims, some of whom claim they have been fighting for a refund of their money for over a year, visited the offices of Crime Check Foundation (CCF) for help to retrieve their monies.

One of them, Patrick Smith said he has lost the largest amount to the company which he said has now changed its name to DM TOUR AND TRAVEL.

Speaking to crimecheckghana.org, Smith said he made a deposit of Ghc 70, 000 of his life savings for a tipper truck to the company but has not received the vehicle after three months of making the payment.

The young man said the company was supposed to deliver the vehicle to him within two weeks as stated in their agreement but they failed to honour their part of the deal.

“I made an initial payment of Ghc 50,000 at the bank to a purported account with the name HITZ CAR RENTALS AND TRAVEL AND TOURS and later made cash of Ghc 20,000 at the company’s office,” he said.

The young man said he realized that the Ghc 50,000 he had deposited into a bank account given by one of the company’s officers, did not reflect on the receipt from the company raising doubts in his mind.

From his inquiries, he realized that the bank account, to which he made the deposit, was the personal account of the employee who had left the company.

This incident, he said led him to confide in a police officer. Upon visiting the premises of the company, the officer who has had several complaints of similar issues about the company told him the organization was not genuine.

“The officer told me many people have been victims and even a policeman was not spared,” he said.

In line with the statement of agreement, the distraught young man said he quickly applied for a refund but “the company officials told me they were only going to refund the Ghc 20,000 and that would even be done after 90 days’’.

Smith said he received only Ghc 5,000 from the company after the time he was scheduled to get the refund.

However, he hoped that the remaining amount was going to be paid since he was told the refund was going to be in three tranches.

But after several months of waiting, he has not heard from the company and the situation renders him despaired.

“The Ghc 20,000 was a loan I took from a friend and I do not know how I am going to pay back,” he said.

He said the company’s boss threatened to shoot him when he went back to the office to demand his full refund.

Smith said he has reported the issue to the police but no action has been taken to address the matter.

He said his situation echoes with others who have also fallen victim to the scheme of the company using work and pay vehicle and travel and tour as a smokescreen to swindle unsuspecting publics of their hard-earned money.