Overpayment Cheque Scam
People selling high-ticket items such as cars, motorcycles or
computer gear via the Internet should be aware of a cheque scam
that is bilking victims out of thousands of dollars. Although the
scam has been around for quite some time, recent trends indicate
that it is netting an increasing amount of victims, especially
among car owners looking to sell their vehicles.
Typically, an overpayment cheque scam works like this:
- A seller places an Internet advertisement for a car or other
item with a high price tag.
- Later, the seller receives a generous offer for the item,
usually via an email.
- The seller agrees on the price, and, often, also agrees to the
proviso that he or she refuses any other offers for the item.
- The scammers then send a cheque for the item. However, the
cheque is for substantially more than the specified amount.
- The scammers invent some excuse for this overpayment and ask
that the balance be electronically transferred to a specified bank
account. For example, they may claim that the extra funds are to
pay the fees of an agent who is handling the sale or to cover
shipping costs.
- The seller dutifully transfers the amount out of his or her own
funds.
- Later, the seller finds that his or her bank has dishonoured the
cheque. In some cases, the bank may actually have cleared the
funds, but discovers later that the check is a forgery or was
stolen.
- Thus the seller has been bilked out of a substantial amount,
with little chance of recovering the money. Furthermore, the
item remains unsold and the seller may have rejected legitimate
offers in the mean time.
The supposed buyers usually originate out of West African nations
such as Nigeria. In fact, it is probable that the same gang of
con-artists that run Nigerian loan scams and international lottery
scams are responsible for the overpayment cheque scam as well.
Like the Nigerian scam, the intent is to draw the potential
victim deeper into the scam via a series of emails.
To protect yourself against this sort of scam,
never agree to a
deal in which the payer wishes to issue an amount for more than
the agreed price and expects you to reimburse the balance. The
scammers use a variety of excuses to explain the overpayment, but
any such excuse should be treated with the utmost suspicion.
Examples:
thanks for the quick response am okay with price,and because am
far away from united states so don't worry about the shipment i
have shipping agent that carter for my pick up any where in the
world. i will instruct my client to send you a cashier's cheque
of (5000) so what you have to do immediatley the check gets to
you just deduct the funds for the puppies($500) and send the
excess money ($4500) to my shipping agent so that they can be
able to pick the puppies up from your destination and which
will also covers the shipping fees of my other consignments
in the state. so if this is okay by you, you can forward your
full name, address and cell phone number. expecting your
response back.
Thanks for your mail,I am really interested in the (plymouth),Fine
i will pay $200 for it,Please i will want to indicate my mode of
payment to you since i am not in the United States at the moment and
there is a Company in the United States that is indebted to me in the
amount of $3,500,So i will want to really seek your Assistance at
this point,That i will want you to forward to me the the following
informations below that i will need to forward to the Company
indebted to me so that they can make out the payment directly to you
and after you have cashed it in your bank,You will have the excess
amount on the payment sent to my International Shipping agent via
WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER ,All charges you are to pay at the
western union office when sending the excess amount of $3,300 should
be deducted from my balance,So you don't have to bother yourself
about that, The reason for this is that,The Company indebted to me
say they cannot make out the payment in two installment except once,
And since i am purchasing your (plymouth) from you
at this time,I will want to really be sure that my funds will be safe
in your hands as i will want to entrust my money unto your care,So
inorder for us to complete the purchase of the (plymouth) now,I
will want you to get back to me with the following informations
inorder for me to forward it to the Company indebted to me inorder
for them to make out the payment in your name and send it to you
ithout any furtherdelay,
The following informations that i will require from you are as
follows,
1] YOUR FULL NAME TO BE WRITTEN ON THE CHECK,
2] YOUR DIRECT HOUSE ADDRESS WHERE YOU WILL WANT THE PAYMENT TO BE
SENT TO,
3] YOUR DIRECT CELL PHONE NUMBER THAT YOU CAN BE REACHED AT ANYTIME
OF THE DAY SO THAT I CAN GIVE YOU A CALL SO THAT I CAN EXPLAIN TO YOU
BETTER,
Upon receipt of this informations i have just requested from you,I
will immediately forward it to the Company indebted to me to make out
the payment in your name and send it to you immediately,I will be
awaiting your response as soon as you get this mail,Do confirm this
mail and
get back to me as soon as possible.
Thanks
Write-up by Brett M. Christensen
