Truck parts bosses are urging customers to be on guard after a spate of online scams have fleeced unsuspecting buyers.
Fraudsters are setting up fake websites and Facebook pages, impersonating legitimate truck parts suppliers, and tricking online users into paying for goods that never arrive.
Ben, the General Manager at Rocklea Truck Parts in Queensland, has been at the forefront of battling these con tricks.
“They’ve copied our name, our logo, everything,” Ben told Big Rigs.
“Customers ring us thinking they’ve placed an order with us, only to find out they’ve been scammed. It’s infuriating.”
The scammers are using Facebook business pages as their main point of operation, creating cloned versions of legitimate truck parts businesses to deceive customers.
According to Ben, Facebook has been largely ineffective in tackling the problem, despite multiple reports from victims and affected businesses.
“Facebook could shut this down in a heartbeat, but nothing happens. There’s a reporting function that just seems to be there to make people think action is being taken when in reality, it isn’t,” he said.
The scam follows a calculated pattern: victims come across a seemingly legitimate truck parts supplier on Facebook, place an order, and are then instructed to transfer money to a bank account.
Once the money is received, the scammers disappear, often blocking their victims from further contact.
Victims have also noted that the individuals behind the online scams often have foreign accents, suggesting the operation may be based offshore.
The financial losses incurred by customers are significant. One unsuspecting buyer lost $4000, while Ben estimates that the total amount scammed on the fake Rocklea Truck Parts pages could be upwards of $50,000.
“Customers are getting stitched up. It puts a bad taste in people’s mouths when they think they’re dealing with us, only to realise they’ve been scammed,” he said.
Queensland Truck Spares has also been affected, with co-owner and director Nick Wirth confirming to Big Rigs that they had managed to get one fraudulent Facebook account shut down after extensive effort.
However, he remains skeptical about whether this will have a lasting impact.
“With a lot of back and forth, requiring people to individually report posts and accounts, we had the scammer successfully removed from Facebook – for now.
“But we know this is only a temporary fix. Facebook’s platform has flaws in preventing these scams.”
Wendy Berry, co-owner of Rocklea Truck Spares, said it’s an ongoing battle to stay one step ahead of the scammers.
A few weeks ago, she successfully got a fake page removed from Facebook after three months of daily reports, only for it to reappear four days later.
Berry said her scammer now operates on Facebook’s Marketplace platform advertising truck wrecking under their business name.
“He sends them a message back saying it’s going to cost this much money, this much freight, you need to pay this much deposit, then he sends them an invoice.
“Our advice is to never buy off Marketplace if they want a deposit, or you can’t check out the item first. If he was a real company you’d also be able to ring his business.”
NQ Truck Wreckers is another Queensland company impacted by the scammers who is urging customers to stay alert.
“Yes people, double check your facts,” the company posted online. “We have had a Facebook ‘impersonator’ for almost two years now! So hard to get them taken down!!!!!”
Ben suggests that a deep dive into advertisements can sometimes reveal inconsistencies, as scammers often copy marketing material from multiple sources, including international truck parts dealers.
“If you look close enough, you’ll see that the ads show products from multiple locations.
“But most customers don’t notice these details,” he said.
As the scam continues to evolve, industry members are calling for increased vigilance and stronger intervention from authorities and social media companies.
“At the end of the day, customers need to do their due diligence before making payments online,” Ben advised.
“Check the legitimacy of the business, confirm contact details, and avoid direct bank transfers when possible.”
Facebook has been contacted for comment.