A WORD OF WARNING

I recently advertised a dog guard and tailgate guard for sale via Agility Eye and the Agility Net, hoping that this would ensure that only genuine agility people would enquire. After about a month I had an inquiry from someone via e-mail (wilson_sharon2000@yahoo.com), who said that she lived in Amsterdam. After a few days I received an e-mail to say that her ‘associate’ was sending a cheque drawn on an English Bank. Then another e-mail was sent saying the cheque they had sent was for more than the goods, so when it arrived would I pay it into my bank account and when it had cleared could I transfer the excess back to them in Euros – details to follow.

I was rather shocked when the cheque arrived for £2000 – but not overly suspicious. I decided to pay the cheque into my bank account (a Friday) and wait for it to clear before releasing the funds and goods. Over the weekend I decided that I had been rather naïve and that I should have sent the cheque back to her associate – who lived in Athens. The envelope that the cheque arrived in had to correct postmark. I contacted my bank on Monday who advised me to contact them and ask them to stop the cheque.

I sent an e-mail to ‘Sharon’ and requested that she had the cheque stopped and one for the correct amount be sent. Within 15 minutes of sending the e-mail I had a phone call from her associate in Greece. The man (who had a foreign accent) told me that the funds had already been cleared and demanded that I transferred the funds immediately. This person was very intimidating and it is possible that some people would have complied with his demands. I told him that the cheque he had issued was with the same bank I am with (HSBC) and they had told me differently – I also told him that I had spoken to the police who considered that it could be a case of fraud. At that stage he said goodbye and hung up – I have heard nothing from either of them since and the cheque has now come back unpaid.

I have spoken at length to my bank’s fraud department and one of the questions they asked was “do they want the money transferred to Western Union?” Which they did. This is by all accounts a fraud that is wide spread, people are employed to search the net for smaller specialist web-sites and find any goods for sale. The cheques, which are sent, are usually stolen – the recipient is then put under pressure to release the excess funds either before the cheque has cleared or as soon as – the cheque is then stopped. Apparently a cheque can be stopped even after it has been cleared – I worked in a bank some years ago and was totally unaware of this. The goods have also been collected so not only have you lost out financially but the goods have gone also.

I always thought that I was ‘street-wise’ – having worked in a bank and am now employed in a law enforcing environment but it is easy to be caught out. By only advertising in ‘agility areas’ I was convinced that I would be dealing with only genuine people. Yes, I agree I was stupid to pay the cheque into my bank but thank goodness I did eventually start to question my actions and still have my money and dog guards.

Anyway anyone want to by a dog guard?