Dubai: When you sell your car next, insisting on ‘cash only’ payment may be the wise thing to do.
It could certainly prevent you from getting short-changed as a Dubai family recently found out. They not only lost their favourite family car, but also Dh30,000 they expected to receive upon its sale.
“That’s the biggest mistake I made (accepting a cheque). I fell for the flowery words of a well-heeled European woman,” said S.M., who struck the deal for the 2005 Mini Cooper his eldest daughter drove for years before she recently moved to Italy for post graduate studies.
The bait
Initially put up on sale for Dh36,500, the American man and his British wife had settled for about Dh4,000 less after the woman claiming to be the manager of a Karama-based cleaning company came calling and paid Dh3,000 up front.
“She was well dressed and appeared well educated. Introducing herself as Lucy, she said she was recently hired by a cleaning company and that they were buying the car for her. She gave me Dh3,000 in cash as down-payment and requested me to accept a company cheque for the balance,” said the Dubai resident.
The Dh29,700 cheque she gave for the outstanding amount bounced. “I believed what she said. She asked me to deposit the cheque at the end of the month, when she got paid and I agreed,” said the professional aviation instructor pilot.
All efforts to get in touch with the company, ‘Technical Professional Building Cleaning Services’ were fruitless. The company’s CEO who apparently signed the cheque when the car was being registered in their name and the woman remain untraceable.
A visit to the RTA led to another shocking discovery: The Mini Cooper, previously with a Dubai number plate, had been “exported” to Abu Dhabi.
“I am curious to know what happened to the car? Has it been sold off to another country or has it been broken down?” wondered S.M. who has since lodged a police report.
When XPRESS called up a number given on the company’s receipt voucher, a man who claimed to have been a partner in the cleaning firm said: “They have duped several people. I keep getting calls from people asking for money.
“In fact I am also a victim as they owe me over Dh65,000.”
