The organisers of a popular large exhibition in Brisbane were contacted via email by a person alleged to be acting on behalf of a Government Minister in Pakistan. The person inquired about booking a stall in the upcoming show and asked for the space to be reserved.
Detective Superintendent Brian Hay of the State Crime Operations Command Fraud and Corporate Crime Group says this new scam has the potential to net these fraudsters a large amount of money.
"The person making contact will ask for the organisers to book them accommodation and car hire for a number of people and they will pay for this with stolen credit cards. After some time has passed the fraudster will cancel the booking and ask for a refund, or part refund for not only the stall but also the car hire and accommodation, and for it to be paid in cash or money transfer," he said.
Scams don't always need to be sophisticated to work, just convincing.
"In this instance, the alarm bells rang for the organisers because the email address was a yahoo.com address, which of course wouldn't be used by a member of Government, not to mention that this exhibition is irrelevant to the needs of this Minister of Pakistan.
"Every day we are seeing new scams around the world and this is a prime example. While we are seeing an increase in sophisticated scams, there are still scams out there which rely on the basic principles of fraud. They certainly don't need to be hi-tech to fleece you of money," Detective Superintendent Hay said.
For more information on fraud prevention, visit the police website at www.police.qld.gov.au
