Beware Of Fraudsters

It looks as if there is a mad rush in activities of fraudsters and their numerous schemes in recent times. Thousands of Ghanaians have fallen victims to the pranks of fraudsters and many more continue to suffer huge economic losses after their unfortunate encounter with these fraudsters on daily basis. How does it happen anyway? Well that is what we are about to find out.

Usually victims of fraud are people who are engaged in successful businesses or promising professional careers but easily swayed into a complex web of crafted falsehood and deceit. Business tycoons, staff of renowned financial institutions, Pastors, traders, security personnel and others have their stories to tell and it is mind baffling how these people fell to such schemes.

The most surprising of it all is that after the false representation the victim will be left with no choice than to mobilize money from all sources even if they have to borrow money from friends and relatives to invest in fraudulent presentations.

What then is fraud? Issues of fraud are all offences against rights of property or offences involving dishonesty. It requires a false representation made to another with the intention to deprive that person of something of value whether money, chattel and thus causing some economic loss. The representation may take a form of a forged, falsification of document or any unlawful act with the mind of defrauding (deceiving) the person to believe that the representation is true, knowing very well that, it does not exist or is false.

A person may be defrauded by so many forms either by false pretences, impersonation, through fictitious trading among others.

Defrauding be false presences
Per section 132 of the Criminal and Other Offences Act, Act 29/60, fraud by false pretense has occasioned when by a false representation or personation, a person obtains the consent of another to part with or transfer the ownership of a thing with the intention to defraud. The representation may either be verbal, in a written form, personation, signature or any other conduct.

Personation
When a person claims to be a different person whether that person is alive or dead or is fictitious and uses that person's name with the intent of being believed to be that person, this person has committed criminal offence of personation.

Fictitious trading
Fictitious trading occurs when a person places order of items or goods and after obtaining the goods defaults in payment as promised but actually knows that at the time of making the order, he intended to default in payment. This presupposes that one's intention to default in payment must be proved if fictitious trading can be held. How then do you prove intention in this case? Normally the conduct of the accused person whether after taking the goods that person went into hiding, refuses to answer calls or swerve the other party then we may deduce that he actually intended to default or defraud by false pretense.

Let's find out why people usually rush into parting monies to fraudsters instead of having a second thought of the presentation.

One reason may be over confidence in the business proposal or package presented to potential victims due to the highly persuasive communication techniques used to exploit the receiver's emotions into taking spontaneous decisions. To them there will be no reason to suspect any foul play, due to the well-crafted image portrayed.

Secondly I will personally attribute some of the spontaneous decisions taken by the defrauded people to greed. This is because people hardly disclose such business offers to others but keep it to themselves because they want to be the sole beneficiaries of the proceeds but eventually lose everything.

Sometimes, fraudsters employ schemes that make the offer look like a legitimate one and from a reputable institution due to the number of documents and forms you are made to fill.

Areas where fraudsters lately take undue advantage of are oil sealant fraud, money doubling fraud, property and land transaction fraud, false remittances from abroad, gold fraud etc.

Oil sealant fraud
Last month for example the police arrested a four-member fraud syndicate including a German national who have succeeded in defrauding so many people through the sale of fake oil sealants. Over hundreds of people fell victim to this type of fraud and the case is being tried at the law courts.

What these fraudsters normally do is that they get complimentary cards or any form of contact of business minded persons and contact them under the guise of introducing them as suppliers of oil drilling sealant to a purported procurement manager (normally a whiteman) of an oil firm where he the caller works. The caller will indicate that the whiteman who is the supposed procurement manager will contact you the potential target to request for these sealants. Initially they will induce you into procuring a sample from another member of the syndicate who is alleged to possess the items and when it is supplied to the whiteman, he will pay you even double the cost of what you purchased. At this point with the victim believing that he is likely to get double the amount of any money he invests, he quickly mobilizes funds from all coffers. Having detected that they have a scapegoat, the syndicate will also request for larger quantities. It is after the purchase has been made awaiting supply to the procurement manager (Whiteman) that phones which were formerly active will be permanently out of coverage area. All attempts to reach any member of the syndicate yields no results. Fraud! Same can be used in gold fraud or any other product determined by the syndicate.

To be continued
Note
FOR ANY INFORMATION ON CRIME AND POLICE ASSISTANCE,

CALL NATIONAL CRIMEFIGHTERS NUMBERS
0302 773695 0302 773906
MTN & VODAFONE TOLL FREE 18555
191(VODAFONE/EXPRESSO/AIRTEL & TIGO)