Sophisticated fraud scheme
Published:Saturday | April 13, 2013 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
I wish to bring to the attention of the public, especially business
persons and organisations, that in recent times a very diabolical fraud
scheme has surfaced which has already cost a number of unsuspecting
companies millions of dollars in losses.
The scheme works something like this:
A call is made to the organisation enquiring about particular items; the caller (usually a female) sounds quite professional and goes through the normal 'set-up' with aplomb. Usually, she asks for prices, and after a bit of small talk advises that she will be making a substantial purchase within a few days.
Like clockwork, she calls a few days later and announces that she is now ready to make the purchase and she is requesting information on the company's bank account so that a lodgement can be made directly to the account. She is well equipped to answer just about any question and usually has a battery of reasons as to why she cannot make a direct appearance to carry out the transaction.
Using the information provided on the company's bank account, a 'lodgement' is then made to a branch of the company's commercial bank. This is always done using a cheque, which, in and of itself, is fraudulent.
Having made the lodgement and, therefore, obtained the bank's stamp, the lodgement slip is then digitally altered to remove the cheque information and replaced with 'CASH' as the form of payment at the bank. It is this 'CASH' lodgement slip that is tendered as proof that payment has been made. In most cases, this is sufficient to obtain delivery of the merchandise.
Of course, the fraud is only discovered several days later when the fraudulent cheque is returned 'bounced' at the bank, by which time the thieves have long made their getaway with the merchandise.
The police have advised that they are aware of the scam, but are unable to catch the crooks, as they have developed a sophisticated method of concealing their activities and have even employed spotters to ensure that once goods are received, no one is following the vehicle in which they are loaded.
To be forewarned is to be forearmed.
Patrick Walker