Car sellers targeted by classic cheque scam involving apparent ‘overpayment’

MOTORISTS selling their cars on the internet are being targeted by foreign fraudsters in a new version of a classic cheque scam.

The cheats search websites like www.carsireland.ie and offer to pay the asking price, but they send a cheque for too much money.

They then ask the seller to refund them the difference by cheque or wire the money to a “shipping agent” abroad for transporting the car.

But the fraudsters cash the refund cheques or pick up the wired money — before bouncing the original payment cheques.

Among those who have been targeted by the cheats was Cork restaurant boss Morad Gharib, who was sent a cheque for €3,500 for a 1992 BMW car he was selling for €1,900.

The 27-year-old said: “A woman contacted me, saying she was on a business trip in Britain and was interested in buying my car.

“After I e-mailed her some photographs she sent me a cheque and asked me to wire €800 of the money to a Western Union account for shipping fees.

“I was suspicious because she said she couldn’t come over to see the car and then pressed me for the €800, saying she needed it immediately.”

The woman’s cheque, which was in the name of a credit union and bore an Ulster Bank logo, turned out to be a forgery.

Mr Gharib avoided losing any money after his early suspicions led him to find out more about the buyer.

He said: “I was suspicious because her cheque took 10 days to arrive even though letters usually take only four days from Britain.

“She asked me for the €800 but I waited until the bank told me that her cheque was a forgery.

“It didn’t look or feel right and I also found out that she was ringing from Nigeria and not Britain.”

Michael Dillon, director of www.carsireland.ie, said the website was taking steps to combat the fraudsters.

He said: “The critical point is that most of these [fraudsters] never meet the seller.

“This scam has been happening right across western Europe and has affected other car sales websites as well.

“We do alert our sellers to this and we also monitor the content of e-mails sent to sellers via our website.”

Then websites block suspicious e-mails and inform internet service providers about cheats using the web.

Sellers should also remember that cheques can bounce even though they have been initially accepted by the bank and the money credited to an account, he said.