The real-life Leo from 'Catch Me If You Can' who loves Porsche
It always makes sense to cheque back instead of banking on a glib story.
By ET Bureau | Updated:
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People are simply watching far too many movies while supposedly working from home.
The man arrested this week in Florida for ‘buying’ a Porsche car with a banker’s cheque that he had printed at home certainly points to the cumulative effects of lockdown ennui, binge-watching movies, high-definition gadgets and a wish to embark on a more exciting profession.
That he could convince a salesman to let him drive off in a $140,000 Porsche with only a cheque payment reveals not only shades of the glib persuasiveness of Frank Abagnale of 'Catch Me If You Can' fame (both the real con man and his Leonardo di Caprio screen avatar) in the perpetrator, but also the gullibility of the salesman.
Clearly, the vendor at the next place the trickster tried the same ploy — a store where he daringly tried to buy not one but three Rolexes — had better sense. Or maybe he had watched the same movie.
The cheque con game is quite a lockdown ‘thing’ in the US with scores of complaints in the past few months about online scams involving victims depositing large sums in their accounts via fake printed-out cheques that are then cleverly ‘recovered’ in real funds by cheats in the form of ‘advance payments’ for a non-existent offer, usually of a work-from-home job. But this Porsche episode could inspire a new version of Grand Theft Auto game in time for Christmas.
The man arrested this week in Florida for ‘buying’ a Porsche car with a banker’s cheque that he had printed at home certainly points to the cumulative effects of lockdown ennui, binge-watching movies, high-definition gadgets and a wish to embark on a more exciting profession.
That he could convince a salesman to let him drive off in a $140,000 Porsche with only a cheque payment reveals not only shades of the glib persuasiveness of Frank Abagnale of 'Catch Me If You Can' fame (both the real con man and his Leonardo di Caprio screen avatar) in the perpetrator, but also the gullibility of the salesman.
Clearly, the vendor at the next place the trickster tried the same ploy — a store where he daringly tried to buy not one but three Rolexes — had better sense. Or maybe he had watched the same movie.
The cheque con game is quite a lockdown ‘thing’ in the US with scores of complaints in the past few months about online scams involving victims depositing large sums in their accounts via fake printed-out cheques that are then cleverly ‘recovered’ in real funds by cheats in the form of ‘advance payments’ for a non-existent offer, usually of a work-from-home job. But this Porsche episode could inspire a new version of Grand Theft Auto game in time for Christmas.
While social distancing and fear of coronavirus has seen major events cancelled or postponed, crime seems to be thriving.
Many countries around the world are observing a lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19. A few high profile robberies over the past few days suggests that crime is on the rise despite threat of the coronavirus. Here are some instances:
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