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Some police forces are urging the public to beware of conmen who persuade people to pay for cheap mobile phones, laptops or other computer related goods up front, then don’t deliver.
The warning follows a spate of reports from members of the public who have found themselves out-of-pocket after falling for the scam.
The conmen advertise on the Internet and in magazines like Exchange and Mart, Friday Ads and Loot, offering mobile phones, laptops and other computers for sale at knockdown prices.
When members of the public call the number listed in the advertisements, they are told that the goods will be delivered once they pay the money into a given bank account. Of course, once they pay up, they never receive the goods they have ordered.
The advertisements use various designs, company names and telephone numbers but the common denominator is that the items offered for sale are at greatly discounted prices, usually half price.
This is a nation-wide scam with possibly hundreds of victims. The amount each victim has lost varies between £60 and £4,000.
A trend identified in these investigations is the use of other peoples' bank accounts to receive the funds, then quickly removing them. Members of the public should be aware that allowing the use of bank accounts for this purpose may render them liable to prosecution for offences of Money Laundering or
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