Bouncing travel cheques catch internet sellers

Police are warning of another scam in which victims are paid in fake travellers cheques for a product or service they are advertising.

The scammers, believed to be from England, contact the person by email about items advertised on the internet, and offer to pay more than the asking price in the form of the cheques.

They ask the recipient to cash the cheques at a bank and return the overpayment via a Western Union money transfer.

An Auckland City downtown police spokesman said yesterday fake travellers cheques had been presented at banks in central Auckland over the past two days.

The scam originated overseas, and police were making inquiries to confirm where.

"All overseas travellers cheques received should be treated with suspicion and should not be accepted by members of the public as a mode of payment," the spokesman said.

The officer in charge of the National Cyber Crime Centre, Detective Sergeant John van den Heuvel, said he had heard about this type of scam, and people tended to use Western Union transfers as they were untraceable.

For the carpark hacking scam, people tended to sell the credit card details on the black market rather than use them themselves.

"People have to be vigilant with their credit card scams and thoroughly report any unusual activity to their bank."

Anyone who had received similar emails or had any information is asked to contact Sergeant Rachel Wood on (09) 379 4500 or rwg497@police.govt.nz.