Small Business Escapes Losing Thousands to Fraudsters
A Darwen company has narrowly escaped losing thousands of pounds to cheeky fraudsters who are still trying to cheat money from them.
Small business owners Peter and Kathy Cunliffe, were left disappointed when a £3000 order turned out to be a fraud.
But just days after cancelling all dealings with the fraudster, they were amazed to receive further emails from the man who had simply changed his name and was trying to repeat the scam.
Now they and Blackburn with Darwen Council’s trading standards officers are warning local companies to be vigilant and check any unsolicited orders very carefully.
Kathy, of Baby Mattresses Online, of Almond Street, Darwen, said the scam began in April when a man calling himself Carl Jones of Wales emailed about buying a mattress.
“I directed him to our website and then he came back asking for first ten and then 100 mattresses for his company in Ghana, West Africa, saying he would arrange for his own shipping company to pick them up. We have sold abroad and people have sent their own couriers so it didn’t seem out of the ordinary” said Kathy who lives in Hoddlesden.
“He sent details of two credit cards in an email, which you just don’t do, and asked me to split the cost of the mattresses and the shipping between the two. I checked the cards with Mastercard and they were both stolen and the address he gave turned out to be a fork lift truck company in Newport who had never heard of Carl Jones.”
In the meantime, Kathy had sent details of the weight and volume of the order to the shipping company and became even more suspicious when the company emailed back to say Baby Mattresses Online had to pay the £1500 cost of shipping the product and not the buyer.
She immediately stopped correspondence but was amazed to receive another email just days later from Clive Jones, this time claiming he wanted the mattresses for an orphanage in Africa. The address he gave turned out to be a restaurant in London – and the fraudster has since tried again using different names and copying other bed suppliers in.
Councillor John Slater, executive member for citizens and consumer rights, said: “I hope this acts as a warning to other local companies not to be taken in by this scam. The internet is a great tool for generating business but people also have to be extremely vigilant and check out any unfamiliar contacts very carefully.”
Blackburn with Darwen Borough
Council, Trading Standards Service, 3-5 Salford, Blackburn, Lancashire
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Telephone: (Consumer Advice) 08454 040506 (Trader
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