Metropolitan Police Case Studies

1. Non- Delivery Fraud

A.E, A US Citizen responded to an advert for a left hand drive Honda Accord placed on an American Web Site, run by a Newspaper in Atlanta, Georgia.

The seller of the car stated that the car was in London and the owner had recently been promoted and had brought the car to London. They were selling it because it was left hand drive.

Conveniently the Seller had a shipping agent ” World Cargo Express” who would take care of the shipping arrangements back to the US.

This would all be included in the sale price of the car, $3,300, (About £1,700).

Payment for the car was sent through a Money Transfer company, to an address in London.

The money was collected but the car was never delivered.

Advice:

This is a straightforward non-delivery fraud. The offer was too good to be true with the car at a bargain price: the cost of shipping to the US included in the price.

The seller’s addresses given as in the UK did not exist: the buyer could have checked this via the Internet using street mapping or route finding software.

Money Transfer companies are for sending money to people that you know. Money can be picked up from any branch – not only the branch that the sender specifies. The transfers are very difficult to trace.

The Metropolitan Police “Sterling” Prevention Unit worked with Western Union to launch a UK wide initiative to encourage consumers to use money transfer only when sending money to someone they already know and trust.
http://www.met.police.uk/fraudalert/news/high_volume_fraud.htm

Shipping Frauds are commonplace. The companies do not exist but apparently genuine web sites are created to make the company look legitimate.

Further information about shipping and escrow fraud can be found on the web site http://escrow-fraud.com/. This includes a lookup facility if you receive a request to use an ‘Escrow’ or ‘shipping’ company.

2. Shipping Scam

A.H. Responded to an advert on a UK web site for a modified Range Rover placed on a UK Web Site. The seller said that the car had been a present from his late father in law, and he and his family had moved to Spain. He also stated that the Spanish authorities would not let him register the car there. The car was advertised at half its UK Value.

Conveniently the Seller had a shipping agent ”Cargolines Escrow” who would take care of the shipping arrangements back to the UK.

The seller provided several photographs of the car and also a scanned ‘Vehicle Condition Report’, allegedly prepared by certified LAND ROVER inspectors working for the shipping company.

The buyer corresponded with the ‘shipping company’ via email but saw that the vehicle was also advertised on another web site and had not been withdrawn from sale.

The shipping company requested a deposit via “Western Union”, to an address in Italy.

A.H. requested bank account details from the seller, but he refused to provide details claiming that he was an honest person.

The transaction was not followed through as the buyer had become suspicious.

Advice:

It is possible to register a right hand drive car in Spain and the bogus sellers often use this as justification for selling a car that is abroad.

“Escrow” is a method of holding a payment in trust until goods have been delivered. It is not commonly used in the UK, but is often quoted by Fraudsters. Escrow companies are not shipping companies and are unlikely to offer vehicle inspection services.

Further information about escrow can be found on the web site http://escrow-fraud.com/. This includes a lookup facility if you receive a request to use an ‘Escrow’ or ‘shipping’ company.

3. Bogus Advertisement

D.B. Had recently sold his car, having placed an advertisement on a web site, with photos.

A couple of weeks later, he noticed an advert for the sale of a very similar car on another web site. So similar that the photographs were of his car and the sellers email address contained DB’s name.

DB then set up a new email address, using an alias and replied to the car advert.

He then received emails from the ‘seller’ using his name. The advert was reported to the magazine and withdrawn.

Advice:

It is not unusual for the fraudsters to copy adverts from web sites and place several adverts for the same vehicle with different details on different web sites.

Email addresses are easy to set up and there are practical problems with identifying the person using the email address. It is a matter of honesty as to the details supplied to the Internet Service Provider when an account is set up.

VSTAG members have systems in place to prevent bogus adverts being placed. However, this is a difficult process due to the ease that email addresses may be set up and new mobile phone numbers obtained. Some sellers will set up a ‘safe’ email address when selling a car to protect their identity on line, particularly if the web site shows the email address. They may also use a new sim card to protect their phone number.

VSTAG members have systems that protect the identity of the seller, as well as protecting the buyer from unscrupulous sellers.

4. Bank Transfer Fraud

A.D. Replied to an advert for a Porsche Cayenne on an Auction Site. Full details of the vehicle were provided and a price of £22,000 was agreed.

A bank transfer was then made into a Spanish bank account, through an ‘Escrow Company’. The escrow company had a sophisticated web site with a number of pages of information about the company.

The vehicle was not delivered and the crime was reported to the Metropolitan Police. At least one other crime report has been made concerning the same vehicle. Additionally as a result of enquires and information placed on the Internet by A.D. other web sites were linked to the same people and one case involved a Range Rover purchased by an Australian who had sent $AUS 30,000 for the vehicle.

The bank account that the money had been sent too was emptied and closed.

Advice:

Bank Transfers, especially to accounts that are not in the UK may seem secure: however, money transferred to an account may be withdrawn immediately and then become untraceable.

This is an example of how sophisticated, and convincing the fraudsters have become, defrauding more than one person with the same advert.

Crime reports must be made to the local Police. If it can be shown that offender resides in another Police area, the crime report may be transferred there for Investigation. If the offender is overseas, the report may be forwarded via Interpol to the overseas jurisdiction. It is a matter for the Police to decide the nature and extent of an investigation following receipt of an allegation of crime.

5. ‘Criminal Cashback’ fraud

R. F. Advertised a vehicle for sale on a web site and in their magazine.

A reply by email was received from somebody who stated that they were in Dublin and who sent a cheque for £21,000 in payment for a vehicle advertised for £11,750, the difference being a shipping fee. The sender asked for ‘Express Clearance’ of the cheque.

The sellers bank queried the cheque, and a second cheque was sent, drawn on a different account.

Advice:

This is an attempt at a classic “Criminal Cashback” or cheque overpayment fraud, where good money is sent in return for a bad cheque.

A loophole in the cheque clearing system was that a cheque never actually cleared, they could be referred back to the person who paid the cheque into their account forever; and the money taken back by the bank. The ‘cashback’ check was still responsibility of the account holder.

New banking rules mean that a cheque is now finally cleared after the end of 6 clear working days. When handling a high value cheque the ‘CHAPS’ payment method is recommended where prompt clearance is made, for a fee.

With any bank transaction, there may be difficulties for an account holder who has paid money in if a fraud investigation is necessary. The bank will need to be satisfied that the person paying the funds into the account is not complicit in any fraudulent transaction.

Further information can be found on the Bank Safe On Line web site. http://www.banksafeonline.org.uk/documents/Personal_Security_Plan_2007.p...