Police Scotland are warning people to be on the lookout for a ‘pre-pay’ scam after a man in Roslin reported he had been targeted on Friday (13th September).
The man in his 70s was looking at job adverts online when he clicked on an advert appearing to be of a regional mystery shopper company.
When he replied to the email he was sent around £1930 in travellers cheques and was given the instruction to cash them in at his local bank. Once he had done this, he was then instructed to transfer around £1730 to an address in the Philippines.
However he was later informed by his bank that the travellers’ cheques were fake and that he now owed the bank the sum of money of around £1930.
Police Constable Jeffrey How from Police Scotland said: “This type of pre-pay scam is becoming more common, and we are warning people to be on the lookout for scams similar to this.
“People should always be very cautious about transferring funds overseas to people that they don’t know. If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.”
You can contact Police Scotland on 101 or alternatively, the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
