Scammer Alert

[SIDIBEAR]

I have been alerted that several car forums may be a victim of a scammer sending PM's to forum members who have parts for sale.
Be careful who you sell your stuff to.

Hello

I am interested in buying the **parts / car you have for sale** that you have placed for sell now, and I would want to enquire about the present condition of the above mentioned, as well as some detail about you. I expect this timely enough.

As for the payment, I would need you to get back in touch with the last asking price as I will be paying with a certified cheque.

Lastly, please forward to me your full company's (or house address, telephone and fax) details as I will subsequently prefer reaching you through these facilities.

Yours interestingly,
Raymond Griffiths

Should you need to reply to me, Please get back in touch with your details to me at:mxx_xxx10@yahoo.com for a quick reply.

Other email addys are.
topetemi81@yahoo.com
md_xxx10@yahoo.com

The guys at the T5 forum added this bit from the Met Police.

Criminal cashback fraud

The Metropolitan Police Specialist Crime Directorate are warning the public of a new type of fraud being dubbed 'criminal cashback'.

The new fraud is aimed at anyone who advertises something for sale, be it over the internet, in the local paper, in the specialist press or in a shop window. Average losses are between £3000 and £5000.

Method:The targeted victim will be contacted by the fraudster posing as a buyer. Whatever the price of the item for sale, the 'buyer' (or their agent/associate) will send a UK cheque or banker's draft for significantly more than the asking price. The 'buyer' will then enter into an agreement with the vendor that this overpayment will be returned to them via 'money transfer' or sent to a third party or shipping agent once it 'clears' in the vendor's account.

The crux of the scam is that the victim does not believe there is any risk in doing this, due to public misunderstanding of the banks 'clearing' cycle.

Once a cheque/banker's draft has 'cleared' it will show in a bank account as a credit and funds to the value of it can be drawn out. However, if the cheque/bankers draft is fraudulent or stolen its value will be taken back out of the account to which it was paid when this fact is discovered. This can be up to weeks later.In effect the victim is being duped into sending their own cash to the fraudster by irreversible 'money transfer' in response to their worthless piece of paper. The victim and not the bank is liable for this loss.

The Metropolitan Police has worked closely with the British Banking Association and APACS to try and highlight this fraudulent crime in an attempt to raise public awareness and by doing so prevent further offences and disrupt the criminal gangs involved.

DCI Stuart Dark, from the Met's Economic and Specialist Crime Unit, SCD6 said:

"The advice to anyone who is selling something is do not accept a cheque or banker's draft for any amount over your asking price. You should also be suspicious if the buyer appears reluctant to meet up to view an item for sale where this would normally be the usual procedure (i.e. a car, scooter).

"If you have already been overpaid for an item, do not transfer any cash from your own account to anyone connected with the deal by money transfer - even if their funds appear 'cleared'. Also, don't be afraid to ask questions of your customer, don't be afraid to work at your own pace (fraudsters often hurry you into making a mistake), and don't be afraid to seek advice or to terminate a sale."

Anyone who thinks they have been a victim of criminal cashback is advised to contact their local police. More details of the scam can be found on the Metropolitan Police's website on www.met.police/fraudalert for more details[/quote]

[Simon 3 door]

I have been alerted that several car forums may be a victim of a scammer sending PM's to forum members who have parts for sale.
Be careful who you sell your stuff to.
Other email addys are.
topetemi81@yahoo.com
md_xxx10@yahoo.com

The guys at the T5 forum added this bit from the Met Police.

Criminal cashback fraud

The Metropolitan Police Specialist Crime Directorate are warning the public of a new type of fraud being dubbed 'criminal cashback'.

The new fraud is aimed at anyone who advertises something for sale, be it over the internet, in the local paper, in the specialist press or in a shop window. Average losses are between £3000 and £5000.

Method:The targeted victim will be contacted by the fraudster posing as a buyer. Whatever the price of the item for sale, the 'buyer' (or their agent/associate) will send a UK cheque or banker's draft for significantly more than the asking price. The 'buyer' will then enter into an agreement with the vendor that this overpayment will be returned to them via 'money transfer' or sent to a third party or shipping agent once it 'clears' in the vendor's account.

The crux of the scam is that the victim does not believe there is any risk in doing this, due to public misunderstanding of the banks 'clearing' cycle.

Once a cheque/banker's draft has 'cleared' it will show in a bank account as a credit and funds to the value of it can be drawn out. However, if the cheque/bankers draft is fraudulent or stolen its value will be taken back out of the account to which it was paid when this fact is discovered. This can be up to weeks later.In effect the victim is being duped into sending their own cash to the fraudster by irreversible 'money transfer' in response to their worthless piece of paper. The victim and not the bank is liable for this loss.

The Metropolitan Police has worked closely with the British Banking Association and APACS to try and highlight this fraudulent crime in an attempt to raise public awareness and by doing so prevent further offences and disrupt the criminal gangs involved.

DCI Stuart Dark, from the Met's Economic and Specialist Crime Unit, SCD6 said:

"The advice to anyone who is selling something is do not accept a cheque or banker's draft for any amount over your asking price. You should also be suspicious if the buyer appears reluctant to meet up to view an item for sale where this would normally be the usual procedure (i.e. a car, scooter).

"If you have already been overpaid for an item, do not transfer any cash from your own account to anyone connected with the deal by money transfer - even if their funds appear 'cleared'. Also, don't be afraid to ask questions of your customer, don't be afraid to work at your own pace (fraudsters often hurry you into making a mistake), and don't be afraid to seek advice or to terminate a sale."

Anyone who thinks they have been a victim of criminal cashback is advised to contact their local police. More details of the scam can be found on the Metropolitan Police's website on www.met.police/fraudalert for more details

Blimey small world - I know DCI Dark - he's based at what was the Met's Stolen Vehicle Unit in a secret location in London.

[Wardy]

I nearly got caught out by a scam like this a few years ago.  They are very clever and manipulative and your bank will be useless!

The cheques used are either stolen or faked.  I was sent a fake cheque and the quality was very good.  The scammers have to buy the fake or stolen cheques so by all means let them send you the cheque so they are out of pocket (and hopefully will get the heads beaten in by the person who sold them the cheque).  Then give the cheque to the Police.  

The cheque I was sent was accepted by the bank with no issues.  Once the cheque was paid into my bank I started to get suspicious and did some research.  Feeling slightly stupid for letting it gets this far, but relieved that I hadnÃ,,Ã,,žÃ,t lost any money I decided to go to my bank (Halifax) and tell them so they could sort it out.  

I was feeling a bit stupid at this point and was expecting the people in the bank to talk to me in a condescending manner etc.  Surely they had seen this all before and would think I was an idiot?  No, the bank insisted that it was not possible to for a fake cheque to get through the system and as this was approx 5 days later the cheque had cleared and everything was fine.  I insisted and even showed them some prints from the internet and asked them to cancel the cheque.  Again they claimed it was not possible and they could not cancel they cheque as it had already cleared.  What the bank said next was really shocking in the context of this.  They said if I wanted to pay the person back I should withdraw the money in cash and post it to them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  At that point I walked out.

A couple of days later I tried a different branch of Halifax and insisted on seeing the manager.  The manager was well aware of these sorts of scams and quickly set about sorting things out.  As a precaution he checked my ID, took notes etc and assured me that everything was ok.  At last this little nightmare was over.

So therefore I was very surprised when my Debit Card was refused when trying to pay for petrol a week later.  Yes, youÃ,,Ã,,žÃ,ve guessed it, despite my trips to the bank, despite me explaining everything, despite me proving my identity, despite me reporting this to the police and giving the bank a Crime reference number and despite my bank manager assurances they had locked my account due to a fake cheque being paid in.   Luckily I had some cash in my wallet and a credit card or I would have been stuck as it took many phone calls and 7 days to reactivate my account.

The Police were not a great help in all this either.  They do not seem to have the resources investigate these sorts of thing.  I suppose everyone is out catching speeding drivers.

So the moral of the story is, if a deal is too good to be true it is definitely, 100% too good to be true.  Cheques may appear in your bank account as cleared but it takes approx 14 days for them to clear properly. DonÃ,,Ã,,žÃ,t expect to bank to help you in anyway without a lot of visits and phone calls.


A great resource on all the Scams is here:

http://www.419eater.com/]http://www.419eater.com/

Many of the members of this forum use Anti-Scam tactics and get some revenge on the scammers, well worth a look and laugh.



Maybe the mods could make this thread a sticky for all scams so were all advised?