David Bridges
A farmer in Western Australia’s South West has lost $16,500 after an attempt to purchase cattle through Facebook Marketplace made the victim of an “elaborate” con.
Key points:
- Police are warning of scammers purporting to sell livestock on Facebook
- There have been several reports of people interacting with a video scammer
- A South West WA cyber expert says this type of scam is becoming more convincing
The Harvey local was led to believe he was purchasing about 30 cattle online after engaging in a sales process on the social media platform.
Police said the farmer transferred the money into two separate accounts and was advised to pick up the livestock from an address in Keysbrook.
However, when the transport company went to the farm to collect the livestock, the farm owners were not aware of the transaction.
They attempted to contact the seller, but the Facebook account had been deleted.
The verification process
Harvey police Constable Ben Read said the victim was able to video call the seller and confirm the person he was speaking to was the person in the Facebook profile, and was also able to see cattle in the background.
He said the fraudster appeared to be using the same Facebook account to post livestock ads to Great Southern and Wheatbelt livestock sale pages.
“So a lot of people would be assuming, here’s a photo of the cattle, let’s send some money over,” he said.
“But this seems like it’s definitely much more elaborate than that.”
Constable Read said he had managed to speak to a handful of people who had conversed with the same user and a Great Southern farmer had also sent money to the person.
“Several people who all described exactly the same video call, [it] makes you wonder whether or not it’s a video call or if it’s a pre recorded clip,” he said.
A warning to others
The investigation comes amid an increasing number of similar scams targeting local farmers.
South West Consumer Protection senior regional officer Annetta Bellingeri said scammers were getting better at appearing as legitimate sellers.
“We would definitely suggest to people that you don’t buy goods unseen, if at all possible,” she said.
“Just be aware that these scams are out there, they’re very good, they’re pretty sophisticated.
“If they start to have success with a particular type of livestock or a product, that’s what they’re going to keep using that they’re definitely very opportunistic.”
If you notice anything suspicious or are a victim of a scam, you can report it online to the National Cyber Security Centre here.
