Cyber Crooks Conned a Port Hope Resident via Overpayment Scam

Cyber criminals recently conned a resident of Port Hope (Ontario, Canada).

As per the details, the victim was selling products on Kijiji website. It is an Internet site devoted to post free classified advertisements. While selling, he received an e-mail from a sender willing to purchase the products that were up on sale.

As per the e-mail, its sender was a Judge in Paris, France, who would wire a money order to him.

Then, the victim received a money order that supposedly paid for both the product as well as for shipping and handling. Interestingly, the amount of the money order was higher than that discussed in the e-mail. The victim cashed that money order and transferred back the balance $2,000 to the French company. But later he came to know that the money order had bounced.

Port Hope Police Service warns people who sell items over the Internet to be watchful while dealing with the purchasers who wire more than the agreed amount of money.

Such scams are known as Overpayment scams, which, according to the experts, are not new. Due to the malice connected with these scams, experts say that netizens must follow some steps to avoid the risk of getting scammed.

First, users must be skeptical of the idea that there is logically no point in purchaser sending more than the agreed amount. So, if someone receives a check wherein the amount is more than discussed, he/she shall refuse it and revert it back to the purchaser.

Only after receiving the entire amount, a seller must refund the balance to the other party otherwise the he would have to face loss as in the above case.
Seller must know the details of the party, like buyer's name, his contact number and address. In this case, the conned man must have ascertained the authenticity of the interested buyers.

Besides, choose other payment modes like the online payment service. Lastly, if a seller feels that he/she has been victimized, he must immediately file the case on the Police website or call Police Service at their toll free number for immediate actions.

Related article: Cyber Child abuser Sentenced To Imprisonment

» SPAMfighter News - 5/7/2010