Sarthe: a couple scammed out of their money by bounced cheques
In Villeneuve-en-Perseigne, near Alençon, a couple were the victims of a bad cheque scam following the sale of their car.
A done deal
Together with her husband, a 39-year-old woman wanted to sell her car, a Megan 4GT. After posting an advert on a classifieds website, the couple immediately received numerous calls and messages from people interested in the property. However, one young man, who turned out to be very interested in the vehicle, told the couple that he was prepared to come over in the next few days to see the car for himself.
3 days later, the young man turned up at the couple's home, accompanied by a friend. He made a very good impression on the couple, presenting himself as a serious, solvent young man and showing them his credit account. A few minutes later, totally convinced, the deal was done. To pay for the transaction, the young man gave the couple a cheque made out to himself.
The discovery of the deception
The next day, on a Sunday, out of curiosity, the 39-year-old woman and her husband decided to search on the internet for the address provided the day before by their buyer. The address corresponded to social housing, but turned out to be just a post office box. They were surprised by their discovery, but nothing more.
On Monday, despite the bank being closed, the couple were able to deposit the cheque in an ATM. It was not until Tuesday that the fraud was discovered. Completely shocked, the couple realised that €17,000 had now been lost... A sum that was supposed to go towards repaying the loan on a new car.
Theft turns into identity theft
The couple's bank then contacted the young fraudster's bank to certify what they had already been able to deduce. Not surprisingly, the deception was confirmed. The couple, now victims of a swindle, decided to go to the gendarmerie to lodge a complaint. Unexpectedly, the gendarmes said they knew the young man well, but that it was not their responsibility to deal with such a case.
The couple, totally distraught, did not give up on the case and embarked on an extensive search. That's when they discovered that their Megan had already been sold to a garage in Alençon, in their name! The theft turned into identity theft! The couple were then able to lodge a complaint with the gendarmerie, which they promptly did.
Still waiting to be heard by the courts, the couple are alerting potential buyers of their car on social networks that their car has been stolen.
Buy your used car safely with Obvy
It's a sad fact of life, but cheque-writing scams are more than common these days. Even more so when the transaction is carried out on a classified ads site. We've written an article to help youavoid cheque scams between private individuals.
Use Obvy to buy your used car in complete security. The system set up by Obvy not only allows you to check the identity of the person with whom you are making the transaction, but also, thanks to its many functions, on the seller's side, to be sure of the solvency of your buyer, and on the buyer's side, to be sure of the conformity of the good purchased before paying the amount due.
You can also pay in several instalments for goods that are too expensive.