Police warned Pretoria businesses on Thursday to beware of criminals using stolen cheques to buy goods costing thousands of rands.
”The gang appears to be targeting businesses that sell liquor, furniture, butcheries, digital cameras, air conditioners, office and health equipment,” police spokesperson Captain Piletji Sebola said in a statement.
Sebola said other businesses targeted are travel agencies, restaurants, holiday resorts and hotels.
He said the scam artists, who usually purport to be professional people in order to win the trust of their victims, place telephonic orders and request the companies’ bank particulars to ”deposit” money.
”They then use a stolen cheque to make a payment at the bank, and the deposit slip will be altered to reflect as a cash payment into the dealer’s bank account,” Sebola said.
The altered deposit slips are then faxed to businesses to secure delivery of the goods to certain addresses, after which they are swiftly moved to other locations.
Sebola said businesses find out later from their banks that no payments were actually made and that the ”deposit” was made with a stolen cheque.
”One stolen chequebook was used to purchase goods to the values of more than R2-million,” he said.
Police have found another scam in which a refund is demanded by the scam artists after an ”extra payment” is deliberately made with a stolen cheque.
”The so-called client will give out his bank details for the refund of the difference. The refund is usually paid into the bank account opened at one of the less established banks,” Sebola said, adding such accounts appear to have been opened by the criminals for that specific purpose. — Sapa