Losing money quickly made easy

3 October 2004 - Sowetan Sunday

Losing you money has never been easier.

There is a new scam in town and it is so discreet you will ask yourself how a human being can stoop so low.

The scam involves bogus deposits made by would-be purchasers who swindle money from unsuspecting victims on the pretext of buying their goods.

The warning comes in the wake of consistent complaints received by the ombudsman for banking services (OBS). these fake deposits later turn out to be stolen cheques and not cash.

John Simpson, manager of investigations for the OBS, says "after receiving a number of complaints we would like to warn consumers what to look out for. We hear horrific stories of people who have been conned and suffered huge losses as a result of the scam."

The scam's drivers have creative ideas, so there are numerous ways in which they operate.

"The seller normally advertises goods for sale," says Simpson." After establishing contact, the thief offers to buy and to deposit the price agreed on into the seller's account. The thief also promises to fax the deposit slip as proof of payment."

He explains that in this case the thief deposits a stolen or forged cheque into the seller's account.

"A deposit slip is then forged to show that the deposit was made in cash and faxed to the seller."

Simpson says:" The seller thinks that the deposit has been made in cash and hands over the goods to the purchaser. The seller later realises that he or she has been conned when the 'cash' deposit is reversed by the bank."

There are also instances in which the thief deposits a stolen cheque for a larger amount than the purchase price and asks the seller to transfer the balance back to him.

"The seller, thinking the deposit was in cash, does so, only realising later that the deposit was fraudulent," he says.

• Never accept a deposit slip as proof of payment. Always obtain written verification from your bank before handing over any goods or transferring money deposited back to the purchaser.
• Where cheques are deposited, ensure they are legitimate. Rather request special clearance on cheque deposits. This way the cheque is sent to the drawer's bank for verification before it is paid. Do not hand over any goods until the cheque is fully paid.
• Be aware that in certain circumstances a cheques can be returned even after the funds have been released to the payee.
• Be wary of purchasers offering to pay the purchase price without seeing the goods or purchasers who send their drivers to pick up the goods