Irish targeted in fake cheque scam
Police in Nigeria seized counterfeit Dublin EBS and Bank of Ireland cheques during a global operation against internet and mass-marketing fraud.
The total value of the counterfeits came to €1.5bn in assorted currencies.
The operation, led by Britain’s Serious Organised Crime Agency, involved raids across three continents that were the result of a police operation sparked by email-based fraud, bogus lotteries and losses suffered by buyers and sellers on a host of auction websites.
Fraudsters planned to pass the cheques to consumers in Ireland, Britain and North America in exchange for goods and low-value refunds in what is known as “advance fee fraud”.
Victims either part with goods or wire money abroad after receiving the fake pre-printed cheques. Alternatively they are sent cheques of “lottery winnings” after sending a “release fee”.
Victims have also lost money after advertising an item for sale and then receiving a cheque for double the asking price with the buyer asking for the difference by return of post. As cheques take days to clear or bounce, consumers can have posted goods or wired refunds or release fees before they realise the cheque they received was a dud.
Yesterday Irish banking chiefs urged sellers to be wary of cheques, especially from abroad.
The serious Organised Crime Agency estimates Britons lose £3.5bn (€5.1bn) annually through such frauds while Ireland’s National Consumer Agency puts losses in Ireland at €350 million.
The EBS said it was not aware of the fake cheques, which were clearly visible in a recent British police photograph of a haul of counterfeits in Nigeria.
Fraudsters often work on what is known as a “golden triangle” principle with the victim and the conmen in two different jurisdictions and the money going to the third country.
* The National Consumer Agency’s website www.consumerconnect.ie has advice on to spot frauds.
