The online sellers were offering a GPS fishfinder. Photo: Amazon.com/File photo only.
An astute Griffith buyer has recognised a likely scam when people tried to sell him a sonar device online, reporting the incident to police.
District Inspector Glenn Smith told Region the buyer contacted three separate sellers, who were offering a Garmin Echomap Ultra 2 106SV transducer for sale on an online marketplace.
The buyer made several inquiries into the GPS fishfinder and during these, the sellers each provided a PayID and requested the buyer transfer $1000 for the item.
The cautious buyer requested the sellers send a form of identification before purchasing the item.
Each of the three sellers sent a NSW driver’s licence under a different name.
The buyer requested a cash-on-delivery (COD) transaction, as he did not feel comfortable using PayID. He was suspicious of the driver’s licences provided by each seller.
Each of the three sellers denied the COD request and continued to demand the buyer send the money via a PayID.
The buyer declined to purchase the item and later attended Griffith Police Station to report the suspicious sellers.
Police checked the licence numbers supplied by the sellers, and they were all fake.
District Inspector Smith reminded buyers on these online marketplace sites to never transfer large sums of money to someone you’ve never met in person.
“Paying cash on delivery of the items is one of the better methods to ensure you are not defrauded or lose your money online,” he said.
Online scams can also be reported to the Australian Government’s ScamWatch website.
