Scam Warning for Irish Motor Trade

Larry Dunne at Walden Leasing sent me this email earlier today warning of a gang ordering cars and tyres in his name.
If you're operating as a service provider in the Motor trade please be extremely careful when receiving unexpected orders from Walden Leasing (or any other fleet management company).
We have already heard of one company falling victim to a similar scam that involved 5,000 Euro worth of tyres.
Please consider passing this information along to your colleagues.

Hi Shane,

We have just become aware of a scam whereby a third party has set up a fake email address using our email and address details which looks authentic. He then makes contact by phone to order items (to date tyres and a car) then confirms the order by email advising that he is out of the office but can be contacted on a mobile number if necessary. He arranges for delivery of the goods to an address other than the actual business address, stating it is one of our workshops, where payment will be made.

The name he is using is Liam.Kelly@waldenleasing.ie . We have no such person working or acting on our behalf.

We don’t know how many businesses he may have contacted but perhaps you could make the SIMI members aware in order that they may be on their guard ."

– Larry Dunne, Managing Director, Walden Leasing

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by Shane Teskey
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Shane Teskey - August 18, 2011 at 1:02 pm
I just came across this article on Autotrade.ie which has a lot in common with Larry's experience. - Scam artists strike again in Longford - For the second time in recent weeks, a gang of scam artists operating in the Longford area have stolen a significant quantity of tyre service equipment from a well known supplier. Cork-based Advanced Garage Equipment is the latest company to fall victim to the gang. On Tuesday morning morning Donal Barry of Advanced Garage Equipment got a call from a man looking to purchase a tyre changer, wheel balancer, compressor and selection of hands tools. A deal was struck and Donal undertook to deliver the equipment to a private residence in Co. Longford. On arrival at the residence Donal was met by two men and a woman and was informed that the equipment could not be delivered to the tyre shop that day because, the floor of the premises was being painted at the time. The equipment was transferred on to a SUV and trailer at the house. Donal was then invited into to the house for coffee. Moments later one of the men got a call on his mobile, made his excuses and left. Once outside, unknown to Donal, he drove off in the SUV with the trailer attached. Moments later the second man also got a phone call. Having concluded his phone conversation, he told Donal that he was going into Longford to collect the money for the equipment and would be back shortly. Donal remained in the house with the woman and a number of children, and didn't become suspicious until some time later when he got a phone call from the second man. The man said he was in Mullingar and said that Donal would have to drive to Mullingar to get his money. At that stage Donal left the house, to discover that the SUV and trailer was gone. After several conversations with the gang members and Longford Gardai, Donal drove to Mullingar but the trailer went dead. The theft comes just days after a similar scam in involving another well know supplier. Clane, Co. Kildare based Patch Tyre Equipment fell victim to the scam artists when the company was asked to deliver a new ATH Heinl tyre changer and and wheel balancer to an address in Co Longford recently. Brian Matthews of Patch Tyre Equipment explained that the fraudsters contacted the office and placed an order for the two machines having viewed the machines on the company's website. Having agreed a COD price, the machines were dispatched by courier to an address in Abbeycartron Co. Longford on Saturday July 23. When the courier arrived he was re-directed to a retail premises in Lanesboro, Co. Longford, where he unloaded the machines. Having thoroughly inspected the machines and expressed their satisfaction, the fraudsters told the courier to follow their silver SUV to collect the money. Moments later, the gang gave the courier the slip and vanished without trace. The courier quickly returned to the retail premises to discover that the tyre changer and wheel balancer had been stolen. Longford Gardai have confirmed that both cases are currently under investigation.