Mercedes-Benz owners targeted in sophisticated theft syndicate run from jail

Jermaine Prim, a convicted gangster from Eldorado Park in Johannesburg, is allegedly running an elaborate luxury car theft syndicate targeting Mercedes-Benz vehicle owners from inside his prison cell. 

Prim, who is facing fresh theft and fraud charges, allegedly scours social media sites and consumer complaints platforms such as Hellopeter to look for disgruntled Mercedes-Benz vehicle owners to dupe them into “voluntarily” giving him their cars. 

So sophisticated is Prim’s scam, according to the state, that he was allegedly able to clone the telephone number of Mercedes-Benz South Africa’s head office and pass himself off as the vehicle maker’s senior official.