Antwerp police alerts jewellers against scammers

Diamond and jewellery firms have been falling prey to a certain scam that has now captured the attention of the diamond squad of the Federal Police in Antwerp. According to the Antwerp Federal Police's diamond squad, an individual or group of individuals falsely claiming to be buyers from a foreign country are contacting local dealers and expressing their interest in purchasing certified rough diamond or jewellery.

These pretentious buyers also provide their fake contact details, email address and copy of passport in order to convince the dealer. The buyer then agrees to send the funds to the dealer’s account before in advance, before receiving the item and might support this with a false swift code confirmation or apparently real bank details. The pretentious buyer also makes an arrangement where the dealer would receive a call from the bank later to find out that the bank did not really call to confirm the payment. Arrangements are then made to collect the item and the person collecting the item pretends to be an employee of the pretentious buyer. Later, the seller discovers that the payment did not take place and the whole act was a scam.

The Antwerp Federal Police's diamond squad is asking diamond and jewellery firms to be cautious from such fake buyers and to contact the police if they have been victimised.