Two farmers from the southeast of Ireland are warning others not to fall victim to a “sophisticated” online tractor scam. Up to €30,000 has been lost by one individual, with smaller amounts of €3,000 lost through the scam website RJMplant.com, which claims to sell tractors and other types of machinery.
The fraudulent company claims to have an address in Leeds and even suspicious farmers were conned into believing it was a legitimate operation.
“When I’d ring the number on the website I’d get through to a secretary before being put through to the guy selling the machinery,” one farmer told the Irish Farmers Journal.
“I was sceptical but it seemed too elaborate to be a scam. It all seemed very professional – they were all well-spoken people.”
A picture of the address given on the tractor scam website in Leeds, UK. RJMplant.com claim this is where their machinery business is based.
An invoice seen by the Irish Farmers Journal from the fraudulent company reveals a sophisticated system of identity theft, with a legitimate VAT and company number stolen from real machinery companies.
The VAT number was traced to Bruce Hopkins Ltd, a machinery company in Oxfordshire. Hopkins confirmed he has nothing to do with RJMplant.com and said that he had already reported the matter to police.
Similarly, another machinery company, SJH–All Plant Group, based in Cambridgeshire, told us that the scam website had stolen pictures of their machinery and even their directors to put on the scam website.
Investigation by this newspaper traced the RJMplant.com web address to Newark in the US
The scam company used one of the photos to create a fake LinkedIn account for their director to further legitimise their company.
Investigation by this newspaper traced the RJMplant.com web address to Newark in the US.
Previous investigations into machinery scam websites have shown links to Russia and Poland, with Irish farmers sending money to the UK, France and Spain through bank transfers.
Specific figures on tractor and machinery scams are not recorded but An Garda Síochána suspects that over half of cases are not reported.
“Farmers are often too embarrassed to report that they’ve been scammed,” a garda source said. However, he urged farmers to report scam websites to help fellow farmers falling victim to the same scam.
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Two farmers from the southeast of Ireland are warning others not to fall victim to a “sophisticated” online tractor scam. Up to €30,000 has been lost by one individual, with smaller amounts of €3,000 lost through the scam website RJMplant.com, which claims to sell tractors and other types of machinery.
The fraudulent company claims to have an address in Leeds and even suspicious farmers were conned into believing it was a legitimate operation.
“When I’d ring the number on the website I’d get through to a secretary before being put through to the guy selling the machinery,” one farmer told the Irish Farmers Journal.
“I was sceptical but it seemed too elaborate to be a scam. It all seemed very professional – they were all well-spoken people.”
A picture of the address given on the tractor scam website in Leeds, UK. RJMplant.com claim this is where their machinery business is based.
An invoice seen by the Irish Farmers Journal from the fraudulent company reveals a sophisticated system of identity theft, with a legitimate VAT and company number stolen from real machinery companies.
The VAT number was traced to Bruce Hopkins Ltd, a machinery company in Oxfordshire. Hopkins confirmed he has nothing to do with RJMplant.com and said that he had already reported the matter to police.
Similarly, another machinery company, SJH–All Plant Group, based in Cambridgeshire, told us that the scam website had stolen pictures of their machinery and even their directors to put on the scam website.
Investigation by this newspaper traced the RJMplant.com web address to Newark in the US
The scam company used one of the photos to create a fake LinkedIn account for their director to further legitimise their company.
Investigation by this newspaper traced the RJMplant.com web address to Newark in the US.
Previous investigations into machinery scam websites have shown links to Russia and Poland, with Irish farmers sending money to the UK, France and Spain through bank transfers.
Specific figures on tractor and machinery scams are not recorded but An Garda Síochána suspects that over half of cases are not reported.
“Farmers are often too embarrassed to report that they’ve been scammed,” a garda source said. However, he urged farmers to report scam websites to help fellow farmers falling victim to the same scam.
Read more
Meat factory owners buy family farm
Tractor scam costs farmer €9,000
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