The old con game of a debtor issuing a postdated cheque with insufficient or no funds and thereafter dodging creditors are over. This is the age of the Internet and fraudsters have devised innovative ways of cheating businesses.
The Counties Manukau Police has received a number of complaints from small and medium enterprises who are among the latest victims of the latest scam.
The method followed appears simple and easy to convince. The fraudster walks into a retail showroom or the office of a service provider, makes purchases and says that he would transfer the amount of the invoice through the Internet. He then prints out a ‘Bank Transfer Transaction’ indicating that the money has been transferred to the account of the retailer, visits the latter and walks away with the items purchased.
Such items range from household items to cars.
It is only after a couple of days later that the retailer realises that he has been cheated but by then it is too late. The fraudster becomes untraceable.
A number of police stations around Auckland have registered complaints from businesses, many of who are of Indian origin.
Many of the fraudsters are also of Indian origin.
Counties Manukau Police South East Asian Liaison Officer Constable Gurpreet Arora said such criminal activities should be effectively countered.
“A seller should follow the standard practice of verifying with his Bank that full payment has been deposited before supplying products or services.
“It would be too late to take any corrective action by the time the scam is discovered. It would take time to discover the whereabouts of the fraudsters who provide false information in the first place,” Mr Arora said.
The Police have issued a few guidelines to ensure that fraudsters do not get the better of businesses. These include verification of identity presented, the general behaviour of the person seeking to purchase a product or service and confirmation of money deposited in the bank account.
“Do not provide you bank account details to people over the phone and be vigilant at all times. You should check all documents properly and ensure that there are no alterations made. If in doubt, please call us on (09) 2611300,” Mr Arora said.
