New online scam

There’s been a lot of information on phishing issues recently. However, it seems some people are moving back to good old-fashioned scam tactics.

In this instance, the victim is an online merchant, who is sent a cheque for a purchase far in excess of the value of the purchase itself. Arrangements are then made for the merchant to settle the account with an electronic transfer.

However, the check has been fraudulently issued - but because of the way that UK payments are processed, even though the cheque will often initially clear, it will be flagged as a stolen checks weeks later.

And to make matters worse, it is the victim - the online vendor - who is liable to return the money covered by the cheque, rather than the bank.

You have been warned.