Suspicious - any comments please?

[oasiscouple]

Well, my initial suspicions, and those of most of you, are correct. It is certainly an attempted over payment scam, but it is not quite finished.

An envelope arrived in the post today postmarked Royal Mail Manchester and in the envelope a cheque without any accompanying note or explanation. The amount due as a booking deposit was 300€. The cheque headed Crédit Agricole, 95410 Groslay "Chèque de Banque" with the amount typed in words and figures is for 7950€ and with two signatures. Looks fairly authentic but holding it up to the light, it doesn't have the "Marianne" water mark which a chèque de banque should have. As it happens we bank with Crédit Agricole where we live, but we phoned the Groslay branch, gave the details on the cheque, and they confirmed straight away it is a false cheque.

So now I am waiting for the follow up request to reimburse the over payment, but haven't quite decided how to handle it.

You are going to say I have been wasting my time, but what else to do on cold winter days and I was curious (and still am) to see how it evolves.

[FelicityA]

Not a waste of time. Really quite interesting and very useful to anyone googling their name. Pleased to hear all our scam-o-meters were correct!

[Bunny]

I'd be inclined to still play along to get as much evidence as possible. Do you have a French equivalent to www.actionfraud.police.uk where you can report scams by filling in an online form? If nothing else, I'd get a warm smug feeling at raising their hopes a little more! At least they've spent out on a stamp!

[Chippy]

I'd be inclined to still play along to get as much evidence as possible. Do you have a French equivalent to www.actionfraud.police.uk where you can report scams by filling in an online form? If nothing else, I'd get a warm smug feeling at raising their hopes a little more! At least they've spent out on a stamp!

If there is no actionfraud equivalent, perhaps hand the cheque to the local gendarmerie once you've finished gathering evidence

[FelicityA]

I wonder where they will ask to have the 'overpayment' sent back to or on to? That might be a lead for the police.

[Bunny]

When they ask for the overpayment to be sent on, could you say that you cannot do it by bank transfer but will happily send them a cheque if they give you an address to send it you? At least it might get you a postal address which could be of use to the police.

Edit:
Sorry, think I've basically just said the same thing as FelicityA!

[aussiefrog]

Definitely not a waste of time, Oasiscouple. The move you can uncover the better. Most people usually don't follow through as far as you have, once they've decided it is a scam.

It would be terrific if you can con them into giving an address for their 'refund' cheque, and surely there is some higher authority in France to report it to. I doubt the local gendarmerie would know what to do about it.

Thanks for keeping us up to date.

[Ecosse]

Really useful post, Oasiscouple - I always assumed the chequebook was stolen in cases like this but it appears scammers are adept at forgeries... albeit without the watermark.

Considering how sacred the cheque still is in France, is there someone at your bank (or head office) who deals with fraud that you could talk to?

[oasiscouple]

I am waiting a bit to see if I am contacted about the over payment before taking this further.

Just wondering if this post would be useful transferred to the scam section. Paolo?

[greenbarn]

Just wondering if this post would be useful transferred to the scam section. Paolo?

I think it would be useful for the thread - or an edited version - to be publicly viewable, and also a Sticky as a real example of what happens.

[tavi]

very useful thread Oasis, for all of us.

Thanks for keeping us updated.

[teapot]

Well done LMH's

[aussiefrog]

Considering how sacred the cheque still is in France, is there someone at your bank (or head office) who deals with fraud that you could talk to?

Just what I was thinking. Surely any bank would be concerned at an attempted forgery/scam using their name.

[oasiscouple]

Here's another installment to give you your smile for today. After about a week of no news, I sent the following email yesterday morning:

"Hello Mr and Mrs Rosenberg,

I am just contacting about the payment for your booking as something strange has happened and we wonder if there is a mistake. The payment due was either 300€ as a booking deposit, or the total cost of 660€ plus 150€ security deposit against damage. However, we received an envelope coming from Manchester in England enclosing a French cheque for 7950€ but with no explanation enclosed with the cheque so we don't know who sent it. As it looks like a mistake, we haven't taken it to the bank and we don't know if it came from you. If you sent it by mistake and want us to send it back, please let us know where to send it to replace with the correct cheque.

Regards, Simon"

About 4 hours later, I received this reply:

"de "Mary Rosenberg" <rosenbergmary23@yahoo.com

Thanks for the response.
I am glad you received the cheque payment of € 7.950.
We appreciate your sincerity towards the booking.
My financial Director in United Kingdom informed me that there was an error in the cheque amount you received.
You are to deduct the full amount for the booking and let me know how many would be remaining.
I hope I can trust you with these funds, please keep us updated as soon as you deposit and cash the cheque.
We would be renting a car during our holiday to cruise around and experience more of the regions, including hiring a professional photographer to take our pictures during the holiday.
I await your confirmation and thank you for the privilege you have given my family to use your location for our holiday.
I wish you a wonderful day."

I waited a day and have just sent the following reply:

"Hello Mr & Mrs Rosenberg,

Thank you for your explanation. As I understand it, the balance of the money is to cover your additional holiday expenses.

However, I haven’t been able to pay in the cheque as my bank informs me that, since the terrorist attacks in France and because of money laundering and arms finance, for any amount over 2000€ they need to have information about the sender of the cheque and its purpose. I tried to explain what it is for but they said they need a signed statement from you that it is to cover holiday costs and this statement to be accompanied by a photocopy of some identity, such as passport, identity card or driving licence. If you can let me have these documents, I will return to the bank to pay in the cheque.

Regards, Simon"

I will let you know any further development but not sure how long I can keep him (or her) on the hook so perhaps this will be the end of it.

[kevsboredagain]

Love it.