Fraudulent cheques hitting car sellers hard
Published:Sunday | February 27, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Brian Bonitto, Special Assignment Editor
The police is warning persons who intend to sell their motor vehicles to be cautious when parting with their assets, due to a re-emerging scam.
Speaking at the breakfast meeting of Rotary Club of New Kingston at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel last Friday morning, Senior Superintendent of Police Fitz Bailey, also head of the Organised Crime Investigation Division (OCID), said since the previous week an increasing number of persons have reported that they have been duped of their motor vehicles.
"What we find is that several unscrupulous persons are using forged manager's cheques on the weekends - and beyond banking hours during the week - to purchase motor vehicles," said SSP Bailey. "So, the sellers of the vehicles hand over the keys to their cars in exchange for the bad cheques."
SSP Bailey said some of the vehicles from the bad deals are yet to be recovered and there was a strong possibility they would end up in the illicit parts trade.
According to the police officer, whereas there has been a significant decrease in this particular type of fraudulent practice over the years, in recent weeks, the trend seemed to have escalated, with four such cases reported over a one-week period.
However, SSP Bailey had words of advice for persons who might be considering such transactions: "Before you hand over the keys to your vehicle, make sure you get clearance of the payment from the financial institution ... . If it is cheque, make sure the cheque is lodged to your account and cleared before you part with your asset," he said.
"In addition, do not transact business at odd hours of the night, or on the weekends when financial institutions are closed and take as much detail as possible about the buyer ... and if you're still unsure, call the police," he added.