A totally wrong assumption is costing many South Africans dearly; to the point of financial ruin in some cases.

First rule of buying or selling via the likes of Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree: consider everyone who responds to be a fraudster and take the necessary precautions.

It was while I was writing last week’s column that a new e-mail alert popped up at the top of my screen with the following subject line: “Prisoners in our apartment”.

I think we can all agree that it’s a disgraceful shame that huge volumes of food, still perfectly safe to eat, is wasted, especially in a country such as South Africa, where more than 20% of households have inadequate access to food.

Too many people are taking these websites and adverts at face value; chasing the promise of a bargain without any awareness about the modus operandi of fraudsters.

Premium Steel has a ‘ridiculous’ policy of trying to muzzle unhappy customers.

A bunch of people with sinister intentions called Discovery Insure agents over the course of a few weeks recently; and pretended to be 19 separate policyholders, asking for their schedules to be e-mailed to them. And those agents obliged.

Those cold calls trying to sell you something are often confusing and incomplete

How can you make sure you’re not buying a vehicle that was involved in a serious smash, written off, then rebuilt and prettied up before being put up for sale as an “ordinary” used car without a dodgy past?

It’s been more than six years since Gregory Williams discovered rust in his then three-month-old Ford Everest