Con men refocus on resellers outside M25

Professional con men from London are looking further afield for their victims as the reseller community continues to be targeted by large-scale fraudsters.

Liverpool-based Var Gardner Systems contacted PC Dealer to warn that it had been approached twice in one week by two separate bogus customers from London, attempting to purchase goods valued at more than #20,000.

The first customer calling himself Mr J Francis wanted to arrange delivery of eight laptops using a stolen cheque from the Newcastle branch of Yorkshire Bank Plc. He was thwarted by Frank Coward, managing director of Gardner Systems, who became suspicious after reading about similar incidents.

Police were unable to make an arrest.

Two days later, the reseller received a call from a man who tried to pay for more than #12,000 worth of goods using a stolen credit card. Coward again became suspicious when the London-based customer could offer no convincing explanation as to why he had not approached a dealer in his local area. At the time of going to press, Coward was liaising with police in an attempt to set up an ambush for the thief.

Coward said: 'According to police, everywhere inside the M25 is saturated with this type of crime, so the con men are attacking dealers outside London who may be less aware of their methods.'