Scam (whereever from) Message #9 Posted by Thibaut.be on 10 Sept 2004, 1:11 a.m., in response to message #8 by Ronald
This stuff is quite common. Here in Belgium some lot of people try to by your car at high price, so said to export to Africa (Antwerps being an efficient harbour to ship over there). They give you a genuine foreign cheque, doubling the value of your car. They ask you to send half of the money by Western Union to someone if a foreign country.
The subtility is that belgian banks usually give you credit on the cheque, even if not cleared : in other words they trust you and consider that you've accepted a good cheque (sauf bonne fin, which litterally means "we give you the money unless it bounces...). Therefore uncautious people see credit on their bank, but don't know it's reversible (cheques are seldom used here). So you say fine, they've been fair, my turn to be fair. You go to the nearest WU agent, send half of the money to someone you've never heard of before, and with good conscience go back home.
A few days later you notice that your bank account has been debited for the value of the cheque + bouncing treatment costs... and that's there nothing you could do to be reimbursed. You've lost your car + again the value of it.
It happenned to people who just purchased new cars, and people were willing to offer them 150% of the price, hence a 300% cheque.
A few months ago I went to this place in Brussels where Congo people reside. Very nice place to have a beer, you need to see the "danse du ventilateur" once in your life ! I had a talk with some of these guys. I asked them if they'had heard about his kind of scam. I needed to buy them a beer to know more. Then they all bursted into laughter telling me "you Belgian guys make laws, and us unlitterate guys just manage to abuse them"...
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