In recent months, the online market for used car parts has been at the center of a complex
web of scams involving unsuspecting buyers and companies in the sector, including members of
FIR (Italian Association of Qualified Rectifiers and Mechatronics).
The TV program Striscia la Notizia , through its correspondent Pinuccio, collected reports from entrepreneurs who were victims of the theft of data used to clone websites and brought attention to the well-orchestrated criminal system to defraud customers and damage the reputation of the
companies involved.
The scams are based on a method that is far from complex: scammers clone websites and social profiles of real companies , such as those belonging to the FIR, faithfully replicating logos, designs and content . However, the contacts provided (telephone numbers and emails) almost always differ from the original ones.
Buyers , convinced that they are on reliable and certified platforms, make payments via bank transfers to IBANs linked to prepaid cards . In some cases, a fake invoice is even sent to make the transaction even more credible.
Once the transaction is completed, the purchased item never arrives and the contacts provided are unreachable. Victims often contact the “cloned” companies to ask for explanations for the delay, only to discover that they have been scammed. In some cases, even the companies themselves discover the identity theft.
The Striscia report, which can be reviewed here , reports, this criminal scheme has created a double joke: on the one hand, customers lose money without receiving spare parts; on the other, companies suffer significant damage to their image.
The FIR and other companies have already filed a complaint, while the ADA (Automotive Demolition Association) is collaborating with the Postal Police to gather evidence and present a complete dossier on the fraudulent activities.
The possibility of purchasing car parts on the web even by private individuals, amplifies the risk of falling into a trap. The ADA and FIR have warned consumers by providing some advice to protect themselves from scams :
- Carefully check the authenticity of the listing, do thorough research on the company name.
- Check the IBAN and be wary of accounts in the name of individuals or prepaid cards. Also protect yourself by using payment tools protected by reimbursement such as Paypal or Satispay.
- Check the URL of the site. Fake sites often have small variations from the originals and a simple Google search of the company name can reveal a twin site.
- Request information via email before payment, asking for details on shipping and payment methods to verify the exact origin of the part and the “identity” of the person responding via the email account.
- Clearly, even companies that sell used spare parts online are on alert and proactively committed to reporting any cases of website cloning to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, to the associations and federations to which they belong, or directly to the Postal Police.
Source: www.sicurauto.it
