Fraudsters now targeting online sellers, police warn

Buyer beware might be a familiar phrase, but in some it's the seller who needs to practice skepticism.

Over the past month, Thunder Bay Police have received about half-a-half dozen reports of local residents being defrauded on popular e-commerce websites, like eBay, Auto Trader or Kijiji. 

Det. Const. Heidi Moore of the economic crime unit said the majority of cases involve the seller being defrauded by an alleged buyer.

Moore said the seller will be contacted by a potential buyer, who will then send the seller a cheque. The only problem is that the cheque is for a value higher than the agreed upon selling price of the listed item.

The buyer then requests that the seller deposit the entire cheque, and send back the extra money.

“What happens is that these cheques get deposited in the sellers account, turn out to be fraudulent, and then the seller is responsible for the money that was withdrawn from the account,” said Det. Const. Moore.

“They tend to be a few thousand dollars.”

Moore added that the crimes are very difficult to trace. 

She recommends all e-commerce users read and understand the safeguards in place on the specific website, and to be wary if a buyer sends too much money for an item.