A 30 year old Christchurch man has unwittingly been caught up in an international scam.
The man was reported cashing a large value of travellers cheques this week when the bank realised he had done the same the previous week. On investigation the cheques proved to be forgeries.
It appears the man had been on a social networking site when he was offered some modelling. The travellers' cheques were sent for him to recover his expenses and fee from, then he was to repatriate the rest of the cash via Western Union account to the UK.
Detective Richard Corkin says that anyone involved in a scam such as this operating as a money conduit could be charged.
"This is a crime against the bank," he says. "Anything which seems too good to be true usually is."