MORE AND MORE Barbadians are becoming victims of Internet scams.
And head of the Police Force’s Fraud Unit, Assistant Superintendent John Maxwell, wants people to beware of strangers turning up on their email sites with promises of business and other deals that could make them rich.
Maxwell said one of the most popular fraud schemes to surface in recent months involved the posting of overseas cheques to locals, with instructions on how and when to make these money transactions.
“These cheques either come by registered or express mail, and the transactions are usually in United States or Canadian currency,” the senior lawman told the SUNDAY SUN yesterday.
He however said that although in many cases the cheques were cashed by local banks and other finance institutions, they were usually shown to be counterfeit.
“It’s only in one or two cases when that business institution did the necessary due diligence that the cheques were proven to be fraudulent when attempts were made to cash them.”
Maxwell, whose department has been kept busy with the new trend, wanted to advise Barbadians that investigations usually led to them as the people making the transactions.
He added that police probes showed that in most cases the unsuspecting persons usually met the sender on a social site or other email connections with messages ranging from an announcement of some form of money winnings or an invitation for a ten per cent benefit in a business transaction.
The superintendent pointed out the sender usually asked that the funds from the cashed cheques be sent to a mailing address by Western Union.
“We have seen this type of thing over the years, but it has become a lot more prevalent. We believe also that in some cases the effects of the economic recession have led to some of these persons being victims of these schemes,” Maxwell said.
“We want the public to be on the lookout and avoid these temptations.”
