An Essex arable farmer lost nearly 拢30,000 after being duped into paying for a John Deere tractor that did not exist.
Richard Bennett, 61, who farms just outside Brentwood, thought he was transferring the money to a legitimate dealership in France, having seen the tractor for sale on a farm machinery website.
Fraud
But when the vehicle repeatedly failed to arrive, he sent someone to France to collect it. Sadly, he then realised he had fallen victim to a sophisticated fraud which involved criminals cloning a real website.
Mr Bennett said the incident had meant his business had taken a 鈥榖ig hit'.
"We are really struggling. You can't just make up 拢30,000," he added.
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Mr Bennett transferred the money to the fake dealer at the Brentwood branch of HSBC back in January 2020 he then contacted the National Fraud Helpline following the bank's refusal to refund the money.听
The law firm managed to secure Mr Bennett a settlement of 拢22,289.90 which was agreed last week. He is now considering whether to apply to the Financial Ombudsman Service to recover the remaining amount.
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Mr Bennett said: "It is brilliant to get the money back. I had written it off, and it will be a tremendous help. It will help the bank balance and give us some peace of mind to keep us going."
Skye Stockings, a lawyer at National Fraud Helpline, said: "This was a sophisticated scam we are sure more farmers will have fallen foul of. We are aware there is a big problem with farm machinery scams."
Legitimate adverts being cloned
Ms Stockings said many businesses, including farms, are unaware you can often claim back money lost to fraud via the bank.
"Fraud in the UK rose by more than a third last year and the advent of AI makes it harder to spot. A lot of legitimate adverts are also being cloned. All businesses are incredibly vulnerable to scams."
Mr Bennett said he had been looking for a John Deere 6430 to help with tedding the harvested hay for a couple of years when he saw one for sale on the farm machinery website.
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"They are few and far between, and I had been outbid on them at auctions," he said. "This one looked like the right money, and it was being sold by a genuine firm."
Mr Bennett then clicked on the website and believed he was talking to one of the owners of the dealership, but when the tractor failed to arrive more than once, he asked a friend to travel to France to collect the vehicle.
Family firm
"My friend went there with a copy of the invoice and said they had come to pick up a tractor," said Mr Bennett. "And the people at the dealership said they did not know anything about it.
"It is a family firm, and the lady there ended up in tears over it. They had other copies of these fake invoices where other people had had the same problem."
It transpired that the dealership's website had been cloned, complete with all the correct branding, and hosted in Panama.
The French authorities investigated but, as yet, Mr Bennett is not aware of any prosecutions being made.
