Warning as scam dupes Bay people | Hawkes Bay News | Local News in Hawkes Bay

Napier police are warning people who replied to an advertisement for Mystery Shoppers that ran in Hawke's Bay Today's Situations Vacant section last month not to follow any instructions involving the transfer of money.

Police uncovered the scam after they found details in the advertisement were false - including a name, business address, phone number and credit card details.

Those who responded to the job offer, which promised $200-$300 for a week's work, were sent a reply asking for their residential address, saying a €500 travellers cheque would be delivered direct to their door within days.

The next instruction was to bank the cheque, keep €250 for themselves and send the rest back to London.

"We are now getting people who have received American Express travellers cheques which are fraudulent," Napier Police Crime Prevention officer Paul Miller said.

"Five people have gone into banks and tried to cash the cheques, but I am yet to discover anyone who has been successful."

Mr Miller said anyone who had received the cheques should bring them into the Napier Police Station.

"They are definitely counterfeit, you can tell by the hologram which doesn't change colour or appear in 3D as it should, also the watermark is not actually in the paper, it's just printed on."