Police pounce on credit card notebook cheat

London-based Transputec is warning resellers to be on the lookout for fake credit cards after it narrowly avoided becoming the victim of an international credit fraud.

The dealer received an order on a mobile phone for a high-end notebook from a customer wanting to pay by credit card. But when the card was checked by the accounts department it was rejected. When told, the customer claimed it was a common problem because he represented an American company and said he would chase the bank.

The Transputec accounts department then received a call, ostensibly from the credit card company, and gave it an authorisation code for the transaction. The customer asked for delivery to be made to a London West End address, which proved to be a hotel business centre where a courier was waiting to pick up the machine.

However the police had the location under surveillance and arrested a man, returning the computer to Transputec. The man has been charged with ?attempting to defraud a series of companies? and more arrests are expected to follow.

Victoria Tunilla, credit controller at Transputec, said: ?All the company?s normal procedures were followed, everything seemed to be above board and there seemed no reason to be suspicious.

?It was only just before dispatching the notebook that the police phoned to warn the company and take responsibility for anything that happened to the machine.?