Farmers are being warned about online purchase scams for fake farm machinery.

That’s the message coming from the financial fraud awareness team in the Bank of Ireland tent at the National Ploughing Championships.

The team said fraudsters are directly targeting farmers with pop-up social media ads leading to fake machinery sale websites.

Farmers were also warned that these fraudsters are highly skilled at creating fake websites that appear genuine and persuade shoppers to share their payment information.

Bank of Ireland’s head of fraud Nicola Sadlier said that financial crime is becoming a persistent issue in Ireland and no one is safe.

“One recent example of a purchase scam among the farming community involved a poultry farmer purchasing machinery, who saw a social media pop-up ad on their computer. The farmer contacted the company via the social media platform and details were exchanged.

“The bogus company then sent an invoice for the machinery and payment of around €49,000 was sent for the purchase. Once funds were sent, they did not receive a response to emails and all communication ceased.”

Advice

Many scams are centred around vehicles such as camper vans and tractors, while others create websites to look like well-known companies.

The purchaser is often lured by the false promise of a reduced price or bargain and asked to pay directly, sending money from their bank account to another via bank transfer, which provides little protection.

Bank of Ireland’s advice to customers when making a purchase for their farm includes research and read reviews, be alert to poor grammar, spelling or image quality, beware of pop-up ads on social media, view an expensive product in person before transferring money and use secure payment methods.

“Fraudsters are directly targeting businesses daily, finding new ways to directly target specific business types,” Sadlier added.

Ploughing championships

If people suspect they have been a victim of fraud, they should contact their bank immediately so that the bank can take action to stop a fraud in progress and try to recover funds.

Bank of Ireland’s fraud and security team will give a series of talks at the Bank of Ireland pavilion (Block 2, Row 13, Stand 223) at the National Ploughing Championships, with advice for farmers on how to safeguard their business and finances from fraudsters.