University students across the South of England are being targeted by criminal gangs to launder counterfeit American Express travellers cheques.
Adverts are appearing on student job sites offering positions as ‘mystery shoppers’ by a company called ‘Mystery Shopper Incorporation – Virtual Services Inc’.
When an advert is responded to the student is asked to give personal details, after which they receive a letter (from abroad) and a substantial amount of American Express travellers cheques.
The student is directed to deposit the travellers cheques into a bank account and, once cleared, is told to take £300 as payment. They are then instructed to locate the nearest moneygram.com outlet and transfer the balance from the deposit to:
Javier PARISI
Kale Berria 54
Onati 20560
Spain
To date, all the travellers cheques received have been counterfeit and this appears to be an elaborate way to illegally launder counterfeit travellers cheques via personal bank accounts.
(This information was received by Security Services from Surrey Trading Standards. For more details, please contact Richard Law.)