Bank scam, Nigerian scam, strange deposit in my account.

[Boosted LS1]

Hmm, this interesting. I was negotiating the sale of pistons and con rods to a chap in UAE for ls1 engines and quoted £1500 or thereabouts. he was happy with that and said he'd instruct accountabts etc. Then he went quiet for a while. Yesterday he emailed again and the wording seemed a bit strange, it reminded me of a nigerian scammer.

Today, my account shows a £17k deposit paid in overnight, yikes! So, I'll have to find out where it came from but before I pay out £17k I'm sure there's a scam where they can cancel the payment in. Which would leave me paying out £17k of my own money (not that I have any, lol).

Comments anybody, before I phone the bank. I don't trust the bank either so what risks do I have there? Thanks.

[AB]

If the money has been paid by BACS or CHAPS then I didn't think it COULD be cancelled?

I'm usually wrong though.

As above, withdraw the money.

[davidd]

Speak to the bank, do what they tell you, record the conversations.

D

[jon-]

Don't withdraw the money unless you suddenly want the charges involved with a 17k overdraft.

As above, speak to bank.

[RJDM3]

Ill sell him some pistons and rods...lol

Seriously though, if you send me the email header i will let you know which country he is emailing you from

Rob

[Boosted LS1]

Thanks Rob, which part do you mean? The first couple of lines from the email source code? Starts like this:

X-UIDL: <aac290791002081040w3441f28xa374f3a7ef

I've phoned the bank and they say it was a cheque paid into the account but it won't clear until tomorrow so they don't now who issued the cheque. How curious?

[maix27]

Can i 'borrow' a grand if it all goes through okay?!

[RJDM3]

which type of email client do you use, i can tell you where to find the header.

If you use outlook express, open the email up in its own window, click on file, then properties, click on details, below it will say "internet headers for this message". Copy and paste the whole thing in a message and i will be able to tell you whats what from there....
Rob

[MrsRoo.]

If the cheque has been paid in via an overseas bank it will take longer to clear than if paid through the UK clearing system and I'm not sure if the timescales for debiting your account (if it is a scam/fraudulent cheque) apply to cheques paid in outside the UK. If you haven't already, I would suggest you speak with the Fraud Department rather than the general call centre who should be able to investigate where the cheque was paid in and get a copy of the transaction.

[shakotan]

Cheque payment = scam.

"Oops, we made the cheque out for too much money, can you tranfer the excess back to us?"

Then once the transfer goes through, the cheque 'bounces' and you are £16500 worse off.

[Boosted LS1]

The chap in UAE has confirmed the erronious payment (as he would) and asked me to notify him when it arrives. I've suggested he stop the cheque before it clears. This just looks so Nigerian.

[trooperiziz]

Boosted LS1 said:

I've phoned the bank and they say it was a cheque paid into the account but it won't clear until tomorrow so they don't now who issued the cheque. How curious?

Even if the cheque clears, if the cheque is subsequently found to be fraudulent, then the bank will take back the money regardless of how much time has passed.

[Boosted LS1]

RJDM3 said:

Ill sell him some pistons and rods...lol

Seriously though, if you send me the email header i will let you know which country he is emailing you from

Rob

Hello Rob,

I've sent you the header from his email. Thanks.

[Boosted LS1]

It's a scam. He just said:

Dear Mike,


It is indeed great to have read from you confirming the funds. The total payment was made into your account due to other payment quotes submitted to our finance department . We highly appologize for the inconvinency .
You will be transferring the excess (£15,626.0 ) less express bank transfer charges by URGENT TRANSFER to the below listed account details today .

BANK NAME : STANDARD CHARTERED BANK
ADDRESS : P.O. BOX 1125 DEIRA BRANCH
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES .
ACCOUNT NAME : xxxxxxxxxxxx
ACCOUNT NUMBER : xxxxxxxxxxxxx SWIFT CODE : SCBLAEAD
I await your prompt response and will be counting on you to have transfer effected asap, also i will require you to get in touch with me as soon as the transfer is completed.

We really appreciate the purchase and would be looking forward towards more purchases from your company in future.
NB : Kindly have a transfer confirmation slip email to me as soon transfer is completed today .

Waiting to read from you soon.

Best Regards,

[jamoor]

hmm, so they have "transferred" money into your account, they have probbably deposited a fake cheque at a high street branch, which will be discovered 4 weeks on.

You will refund the money back to him and they will revoke the payment.

I would just hold onto the money.

[SS2.]

Give it to the bank to deal with..

[mrmr96]

The obvious advice is do not withdraw that money, and do not send it back via a seperate transfer either. Do not make any further communication with the scammers.

Your bank will have a specialist fraud dept. You need to get in touch with the main counter service immediately and tell them everything. They will pass the case on to the fraud dept and they will sort it all out for you.

If you start trying to be clever and make a gain out of this (i.e. trying to withdraw the cash and close the account) then you WILL end up out of pocket as your bank would take you to court for the missing money - they could well assume you were in cahoots with the scammers. Scams often rely on exploiting greed, do not get sucked in.

As others have said, keep a record of all communications on this matter. (This includes everything sent/recieved to the scammers so far, and everything you say to/recieve from your bank going forward.)

[sonic_2k_uk]

Boosted LS1 said:

...You will be transferring the excess (£15,626.0) less express bank transfer charges by URGENT TRANSFER to the below listed account details today.

Yeah, right.

SS2. said:

Give it to the bank to deal with..

This is what i'd be doing.

[TwistingMyMelon]

Be careful don't touch the account or the money and contact the fraud dept straight away!

[AyBee]

Maybe email back asking what he proposes to do if you don't send the money back

But as others have said, leave it there and get in touch with the fraud dept.