Scam-hit boss has guard up

Sam Hurley looks at auction cons as part of Australasian Consumer Fraud week which sees police’s financial crime fighting units and financial institutions raise awareness to help people identify fraud, scams, internet cons, and extortion

AWaiheke Island family tour operator is still being targeted by scammers, years after he fell victim to a computer sales scheme on Trade Me.

Waiheke Sunshine Tours director Nigel Cooper was scammed through an advertisement for the sale of Apple Macintosh computers on Trade Me, in what may have been one of the first scams on the trading site after it was launched in 1999.

“The asking price of $4000 was, at the time, very reasonable,” Cooper said, whose company’s three buses take groups of people to vineyards, scenic spots, beaches and historic sites on Waiheke Island.

“I contacted the sellers, who sent me a pro-forma invoice to be paid through a reputable firm, Western Union. I enquired at the bank I used, and was assured the money could not be released at the other end until the goods had been dispatched to me.”

Cooper, who was operating several taxis in Christchurch at the time, said he was sceptical, but was “pestered into making the decision” by a short deadline for the deal to be honoured.

“So I went ahead,” he said. “All seemed well. The forms were filled in, money transferred, and I waited for the goods to arrive. They never did.”

When Cooper discovered the funds had been wired to a Romanian bank.

“I asked my bank how that could happen. We then discovered that the forms they sent me were not genuine from the money transfer company, but were replicas, with one word changed.

“They looked identical.

“But that one word change meant they were fakes, and the source of them was then able to divert my funds to their own bank account.”

The $4000 was gone, the computers never arrived, but Cooper said he is now “infinitely wiser” and can spot the dozens of scam attempts he and his company still receive.

“I have seen many similar schemes, and helped prevent others from falling into similar traps.

“I feel for those who get taken for a ride, sometimes to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars, and am thankful that my naivety cost me only $4000.”

He said many of the scams he sees now will have a small clue hidden in the fake email address.

Cooper has downloaded Apple’s scam catcher software to help protect his business, which he said stops 95 per cent of the scams he receives.

“Those that get through, I spot quickly.”

Trade Me offered some advice to avoid potential scams.

Never send money overseas. Everyone on Trade Me must have a New Zealand bank account.

Only complete Trade Me trades through Trade Me.

If it is offered by the seller, use Trade Me’s Pay Now payment tool (credit card).

Trade Me also said it covers sellers if a buyer attempts to use a stolen credit card.

If you believe you are a victim of online crime, you can report it to NetSafe’s Orb site.