Driving tips website not safe

Even a dead Zebra will laugh at you if you willingly give
all your details to spammers.

READERS have been asking about the carsafety.co.za competition for drivers to sign up and share the site with four friends for a chance to win R100 000 “cash” and/or other prize draws.

Our short answer is just to delete these e-mails.

If you want to know why, let’s look at that “cash” prize first.

According to the terms and conditions, the grand prize of R100 000 “cash payment” will only be made towards paying an existing car loan of no less than R50 000, or to buy and register a new car no older than a 2005 year model for the winner, or to buy and register a car for the winner’s family member or friend, as long as this person is younger than 55.

Carsafety.co.za will also pay the “cash payment” only to a bank or dealership of the winner’s choosing, and if the winner is not paying off a car debt but buying another car, whatever the R100k does not cover “must be co-financed by the winner”.

Another condition is that at least 20 000 “qualified entries” must be received towards the grand prize draw.

A qualified entry entails “a fully submitted form or Facebook or Gmail sign-up with phone number submission, as well as all details of a person’s vehicle-related information followed by four fully submitted referrals with form or Facebook or Gmail sign-up with phone number submission in all cases, then with a full submission of a person’s vehicle related information — all initiated by a person’s own referral link (provided by carsafety.co.za upon a full registration)”.

A similarly convoluted paragraph, which should warn all hopeful entrants to heed our advice, reads: “Should fewer than 20 000 qualified entries have been submitted by when campaign closes, then pro-rata applies to the amount of cash payment: 10 000 qualified entries = R50 000 cash award for grand prize, etc”.

Why those who are willing to suffer spam for a chance to win should be penalised thus is not made clear by the carsafe
ty.co.za domain, which purports to bring you “tips and car safety information, offerings for various car-related products, such as vehicle finance, car assist, motor warranty, car insurance, tyre specials, test drives, etc.” The site claims to be the product of WDC Group Pte Ltd, in Singapore, and is promoted locally by its South African representatives: 3Way Marketing (Pty) Ltd and One Hub, trading as onehub.co.za

So why does a company in Singapore care so much about our road safety? In short, to get your personal details and then spam and cold-call you.

Or, as the company website admits: “We will use your personal information to call you and to send you marketing e-mails and SMSes in order to bring you tips and car-safety information, offerings for various car-related products, such as vehicle finance, car assist, motor warranty, car insurance, tyre specials, test drives, etc.”

That is not all. Your entry means you “further consent to your personal information being transferred to a third party in a foreign country for the purpose of storing the information”. The personal information will be stored in UK.

Consenting adults, etc

So, if you are okay with receiving “periodic information regarding products, services, competitions, special offers and other marketing initiatives”, hurry, because the competition ends on May 1 with the lucky draw by May 17, using a random-number generator system.

But note: “no entry may win any prize, should person or his/her immediate relative own no vehicles registered in his/her personal possession”.

Also, don’t bother if you have unpaid traffic fines, which car
safety.co.za deems criminal, or other restrictions related to driving in South Africa.

Carsafety.co.za also reserves the right to conduct an internal audit that may “involve checking of information supplied and other car-safety and finance-related matters”, as well as refuse winner selection if it feels “that mandate of car safety with a particular winner could be compromised”.

You have been warned.