Whats the catch for a fair trade toy wholesaler?

I am hoping that a financial wizz amonst our customers may be able to answer a question we have.

For the 3rd time we have been approached by a company saying they are from Dubai.

They order some stock (about £2,000) and arrange payment. The invoice is to be paid via a cheque. Before the cheque arrives we get an anxious email from the customer saying that a mistake has been made and the cheque has been made out for £20,000 rather than £2000.

When the cheque reaches our bank it transpires that its actually made out for £200,000

We have a good relationship with our bank so have stopped the cheque from actually going in to our account, but when we have reported this to our customer there has been deafening silence and we have never hear from them again. We have no idea what the so called customer is gaining from this whole charade and would love to hear your ideas.

Is it money laundering? What else could it be?

If you have any idea please email sales@bestyears.co.uk as we'd love to know!