Fraudsters targeting farmers with ‘purchase scams’ for bogus farm machinery

Bank of Ireland is warning the farming community to be on alert for fraudsters targeting business owners online, including farmers, with fake farm machinery sales.

Fraudsters are directly targeting farmers with pop up social media ads, leading to bogus machinery websites.

Fraudsters are highly skilled at creating fake websites that appear genuine and persuade customers to share their payment information or make a payment.

Many scams are centred around vehicles like tractors, bailers, plough or seed drills, while others create websites to look like well-known companies.

The purchaser is often lured by the false promise of a reduced price or bargain and asked to pay directly, sending money from their bank account to another via bank transfer.

Once the payment is transferred, the seller usually cuts all contact, and the product or service doesn’t arrive.

Nicola Sadlier, Head of Fraud, Bank of Ireland said: “Financial crime is a persistent and growing problem in our society, and no individual or type of business is safe from being targeted by fraudsters. 

“One recent example of a purchase scam among the farming community involved a customer who found machinery on a website that looked similar to a popular online marketplace. They transferred €10,000 directly to the seller to secure the sale, but once the funds were sent the seller blocked the customer and no goods were ever received.”

 “Fraudsters are directly targeting businesses daily, finding new ways to target specific business types. We are urging the farming and agrifood community to be vigilant around the risk fraud poses to their business, including through purchase scams, payment redirection fraud or cyberattacks. Practical advice on how to safeguard their livelihoods against the threat of fraud is available on Bank of Ireland’s Security Zone.”

Bank of Ireland’s advice to customers when making a purchase for their farm or business:

• Research and read trusted reviews to check the site and the seller are genuine.
• Beware of pop-up ads on your social media feed (fraudsters can pay to have their ads appear there).
• Go directly to the online shopping site by typing the web address into your web browser.
• Always view large purchases in person prior to making full payment for them.
• Links in unsolicited emails or on social media are not always safe and should be avoided.
• Try and pay by debit or credit card, as this could give you additional protection such as chargeback claims.

 Other types of fraud being carried out against small businesses include:

Payment redirection fraud – this type of fraud is where criminals pretend to be a supplier or service provider to a business in order to trick the business owner or staff member into changing bank account payee details. They contact you to tell you that their bank account details have changed and to ask you to send all payments to a new account. This is an account controlled by the fraudster.

Remote access fraud – fraudsters sometimes make “cold calls”, pretending to be from a reputable technical support or IT company.

They try to persuade people to allow them take control of their computer remotely over the phone so that they can fix, upgrade or protect their computer. Fraudsters can also impersonate your bank, asking to take control of your computer or phone, to help you move your money to a “safe” account.

 Advice on how to safeguard their finance and business against fraud is available at Bank of Ireland Security Zone – Protect Your Business

 If people suspect they have been a victim of fraud they should contact their bank immediately so that the bank can take action to stop a fraud in progress and try to recover funds.

Bank of Ireland customers can call our Fraud Team 24/7, on the Freephone line 1800 946 764.