Key advice If you are involved in sales transactions:
1) Be particularly wary of any sale where:
The ‘buyer’ appears to want to remain distant from you (such as not wishing to meet you or see the goods prior to purchase or by their using a third party as an intermediary or ‘shipping agent’)
You receive a cheque or banker’s draft in payment that is for more money than your asking price
At the time of receipt or later you receive a request to send all or some of this difference to the ‘buyer’, a third party or a ‘shipping agent’ by way of money transfer (irrespective of whether their cheque or banker’s draft has already entered your account).
As it is most likely an attempt at FRAUD with you as the intended victim. This is because a stolen cheque or bankers draft can be recalled by the bank even after the funds have gone through the clearing cycle and are showing on your account. Any money transfered by you cannot be recalled once sent.
You will not be reimbursed by the bank for your loss
2) If you do become concerned during a sale:
* Don’t be afraid to ask questions of your ‘buyer’
* Don’t be hurried along by your ‘buyer’ – This is often a tactic used by a fraudster to get you to make a mistake
* Check the details of any payment received- Do they correspond with what you know of your ‘buyer’?. If payment is by way of a company cheque or banker’s draft try to contact the company directly to verify its legitimacy
* Talk to your bank – They will be able to give you guidance and clarify the status of any payments received
* Ultimately, don’t be afraid to turn down a suspect ‘buyer’
3) If you do lose money to this type of fraud report the matter to your local police
4) Help us by passing this method of fraud on to others to reduce its chance of success
There are many examples of attempts around motor vehicles due mainly to the value of these transactions creating room for ‘profit’.
For example;
* Sale of a Porsche car – A man advertised his Porsche 911 cabriolet for sale for £37,990 in ‘Autotrader’ and was contacted by a ‘buyer’ purporting to be in Holland on E-mail. He was then asked to accept a UK banker’s draft for £43,680 from a third party in the UK who owed money to the ‘buyer’ and send the £5,690 difference by way of a money transfer to a ‘shipping agent’ once the funds cleared.
* Sale of a Mercedes car – A man advertised his wife’s car in ‘Autotrader’ and was contacted by a ‘buyer’ purporting to be in Spain. He was asked to accept a bankers draft from a third party in the UK for £14,300, £4300 more than the asking price, on the understanding that once this cleared his account he would forward the difference by way of ‘money transfer’ to a shipping agent.
* Sale of a Motorcycle – A man advertised his motorcycle for sale last week in ‘Biketrader’ for £3800. Within one week he had received three different approaches from ‘buyers’ abroad offering to purchase it by banker’s draft or UK cheque for a sum significantly above the asking price on the proviso that he transferred the difference via ‘money transfer’ to a ‘shipping agent’.
Note: ‘Autotrader’ and ‘Biketrader’ now carry prevention advice to ‘sellers’ on their websites following consultation with the MPS
However, this fraud method is not focused solely on vehicles, other examples include:
* Church Organ- A man advertised a ‘Church Organ’ for sale for £800 on the Royal College of Music website and was contacted by a ‘buyer’ via E-mail. Over a series of E-mails he was informed that a ‘client’ of this buyer would pay him a UK cheque for £4,800. Upon the cheque clearing he was to send £3,800 by money transfer to a ‘shipping agent’ and keep £1,000 for himself (£800 for the purchase and £200 for his efforts). The cheque arrived but the seller became suspicious and contacted us. He was then advised to stop the transaction.
* Sale of a Horse – A woman advertised her daughter’s horse for sale on ‘Horse and Hounds’ website and was contacted by a ‘buyer’ via E-mail. Over a series of E-mails she was informed that she would be paid £5000 by way of a UK cheque and this would cover the £2250 purchase of the horse and £2750 for engaging a ‘shipping agent’. She was told to send the higher amount via money transfer to the ‘shipping agent’ once the cheque had cleared. She became suspicious and stopped the sale.
* Sale of a Mountain Bike – 15 year old mountain bike enthusiast advertises his mountain bike on a specialist website for £1450 with a view to financing a better model. Contacted by ‘buyer’ who states he is abroad and will send a UK cheque for £5000. ‘Seller’ is told to pay £3650 by way of money transfer to a ‘shipping agent’ when this clears his account. ‘Seller’ speaks to father who spots fraud.
* Sale of a Canoe – A man advertised his canoe for sale for £320 on the internet. He was contacted by a ‘buyer’ stating he would pay him with a UK cheque for £3500 on the understanding he would send the difference to a ‘shipping agent’ by way of ‘money transfer’ once this cleared.
* Sale of a weaving loom – A woman advertised her weaving loom for sale on the internet for £2000. She was then contacted by a ‘buyer’ abroad stating she would be paid with a UK cheque for £5,200 by a UK based client of theirs on the understanding that she would send the difference to a ‘shipping agent’ by way of ‘money transfer’ once this cleared.