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What Is Letter of Credit Fraud?

Alex Newth
Alex Newth

A letter of credit fraud is a type of scam in which the scammer attempts to make money via faulty business transactions or tells victims that a letter of credit is an investment. A letter of credit is a legitimate document that details how one party will pay another for a business transaction. One way scammers perpetrate letter of credit scams is by promising to ship items to a party in exchange for payment, only to disappear after receiving the money. Another way is for the scammer to tell the victim that a letter of credit is an investment, though this type of investment does not exist. It is difficult for banks to stop this fraud entirely, so potential victims have to know the telltale signs of the scam.

Letters of credit are common documents issued from one party to another, detailing payment terms. They specify how one party will pay another, how much they are paying, and for what they are paying. The document is taken to a bank, and the second party is paid the value of the letter. These documents are typically used for international purchases, but domestic purchases also may use this letter. With letter of credit fraud, the scammer gets the victim to sign the document before producing any goods or services.

Businessman with a briefcase
Businessman with a briefcase

One way of performing letter of credit fraud is to create a fake company. The scammer will tell the victim that he or she is a representative for a company that can ship goods to the victim at very low costs. After the victim signs the letter of credit, the scammer goes to a bank and collects the money. The company will then typically disappear, and the victim either will receive nothing or will receive vastly inferior goods.

The second method of performing a letter of credit fraud is to tell the victim that the letter represents an investment. The scammer tells the victim that he or she will receive a high interest rate from purchasing the fake letter of credit. Letters of credit are not investments, however, and cannot be used as such.

Banks cannot entirely stop this process because, if the victim gives consent or if the scammer creates a convincing fake business, the bank is obligated to pay the letter of credit. Potential victims must realize that these letters cannot be used as investments, nor can they be purchased, as some scammers want victims to think. If a business opportunity seems a bit too good and one party is asking for a letter of credit, it could well be a scam.

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