• Home

Now, conmen buy used cars with dud cheques!

Their modus operandi is quite simple. They visit a person who has advertised in newspapers that he or she is selling a car. They pose as potential buyers and strike up a bargain with the seller. While negotiating, they push for a deal in which the seller is willing to accept a cheque and will allow them to take away the car immediately. In most cases, sellers fall into the trap. Soon after the deal, the ‘buyers’ get the car transferred to their names leaving the seller with a dud cheque.

Take Ben Martin, who was swindled in a similar manner. “Two men came to see my car, for which I had placed an ad in a newspaper. They both seemed to be from well-to-do families. After inspecting my car thoroughly, they agreed to pay the money I asked for and they requested me to let them pay through a cheque,” said Ben.

“As they seemed to be nice and genuine, I agreed to accept a cheque. Then we went to the traffic department to transfer the car in their name. After that, they drove off. I deposited the cheque the next day. Two days later, I came to know that it had bounced!”

Pooja Chawdhary had a similar experience. A cheque was given to her by the ‘buyers’ on behalf of a fake company.

“I was naive enough to accept a cheque from total strangers for my car for which I advertised in a newspaper. A few days later, after I had deposited the cheque, I found out that the company was closed a couple of years ago,” she said. The victims say that a whole syndicate is behind these crimes. But they allege that they get no help from the police. According to them, they are often asked to approach the civil courts for justice.

“The police is not at all helpful. Because the car has been transferred to the buyer, they term the whole incident a cheque problem and not a criminal offence. They refer us to the civil courts where the cases drag on for months,” said another car owner who got duped by a pair of conmen.

“Before transferring a car to the buyer, the traffic department should check and verify the credentials of both the parties thus ensuring an honest deal,” she added.

“The authorities should take strict action against such criminals,” said Khursheed Khan, who has been living in the UAE for the past 15 years.

• UAE