A Doune company has become the latest victim of identity theft, after online fraudsters stole its identity to fleece customers out of thousands of pounds.
Stirling and Clackmannanshire Joint Trading Standards Services is warning customers to beware after online scammers set up a dummy account posing as Doune-based Young Plant and Equipment Sales.
Although the website contains the names and address of the real firm, it uses fake email addresses and phone numbers.
Customers are supplied with professional-looking invoices, copies of import/export certificates and shipping documentation for the equipment they have agreed to purchase. These documents all carry the name and address of the genuine company but are completely fake.
No equipment has been sent and by the time the customers realise they have been duped, their money has been transferred through a number of different bank accounts and is virtually untraceable.
Young Plant and Equipment sales managing director Brian Young said: “Since August 2012, we have been approached by a number of individuals who claimed that they had previously been corresponding with us by email.
“They said that they had paid significant sums of money by bank transfer for the purchase of equipment. These customers came from all over Europe. None of them had received the equipment they paid for. However, they were not dealing with us.
“It has since been established that these individuals were actually dealing with someone other than Young Plant and Equipment Sales Limited who were operating via a bogus website which gave the false impression that it was us. Some of them lost a lot of money.
“It is a terrible tragedy for them and a big problem for us.”
Trading Standards team leader Linda Hill added: “The people behind this have absolutely no connection with the genuine company but have stolen their identity and have set up fake websites in order to defraud customers out of very large sums of money.
“We are working closely with the police on this. The fake websites are hosted by legitimate internet service providers in Canada and the USA but they have been created and registered using false details.
“They operate by means of misspellings and minor variations in the name of the genuine company.
“We are doing our best to shut down these fake websites but almost as soon as we get one taken down, another one springs up with yet another variation in the spelling of the domain name.”
She said prospective customers should ensure they are using the correct contact details for the firm, which can be reached on 01786 841598 or via email at info@youngplant.co.uk.