Fake caravan scammers strike again
Another scam website dupes unsuspecting buyers as demand for affordable caravans risesCaravan buyers are again being warned of 'scam business' websites that try to con buyers into handing over money for non-existent caravans, often with super-cheap ads.
Victorian Carolyn Robertson told ABC Radio she was tricked into handing over $10,700 for a caravan that never arrived, by a scam site called Acecaravancampers.com.
"We checked all the websites, ABN, ACN, all looked legitimate, couldn't see anything that raised any flags," Robertson said.
After being told via email that “she would have seven days to inspect the caravan once it arrived at her Narre Warren home and would get a full refund if she was not satisfied”, she transferred the money to a nominated bank account.
She was also told on the phone that the money would be held by the freight company in escrow. However, after receiving another email saying that delivery had been delayed, she discovered the website had been taken down.
“That was when it hit me,” Robertson said.
It was reported another buyer in NSW fell victim to the same scam, losing $17,900.
Just this year alone the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's ScamWatch service has reportedly received more than 300 reports mentioning 'caravans', 'motorhomes' or 'campers' resulting in more than $200,000 in losses.
The managing director of cybersecurity firm IDCare, Professor David Lacey, told the ABC that “scammers are finding the sweet spot of the consumer at the moment. They’re seeing that caravans are very much in demand… so creating these fake websites (and) some of them look incredibly legitimate”.
He said there are often “multiple victims”, when the scammers use similar names or company details of reputable existing businesses, including business (ABN) numbers.
“Then you’ve got other companies that have names very closely associated with them that are getting phone calls from victims as well,” Professor Lacey said.
He said the same cyber-criminals are often behind similar-looking fake sites selling other ‘big ticket' consumer items like tractors and farm machinery.
He said it's very difficult for victims to get their money back through legal channels as often the scammers are located overseas. As well as taking precautions like physically inspecting the caravan, he recommended “typing the name of the company, and fraud or scam, online just to see if anyone else is reporting (the scam)”.
Related reading:
Fake caravan sales website warning
Fake caravan dealer scam warning
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