Scammers target mobile businesses

A local business has been caught up in a sophisticated scam offering mobile phones and other electronic devices.

FAV Mobile Solutions owner Robin Jordan says staff have received calls from people trying to arrange pick-up for items they have already paid for.

However, his business doesn’t sell the items, which have included an iPhone 11 and a PlayStation.

“They are expecting to pick the items up from the shop,” he says. “My staff have had to tell them it is a scam.”

Robin says the scam seems legitimate, giving the reassurance of local addresses and photos.

He has registered his business as Mobile Solutions Ltd and, as director of this registered company, his name and home address are accessible.

At least one person checked the photo was correct before purchasing an iPhone advertised online.

“I was at home and looking out the window, and saw a woman stop and look at our house,” he says. “I was curious, so asked her what she was doing.”

That curiosity probably saved the woman’s friend a lot of money. The friend, who lived in Auckland, had asked her to verify the photo and Richmond address matched before she purchased an iPhone.

The house belonged to Robin, but he hadn’t placed the advert.

“I knew it was a recent photo because we bought a campervan in the last year and it was there in the photo,” says Robin.

Robin advised the woman to report the post to the police.

The email used in the scams is mobilesolutions.nz@gmail.com but has no connection to Robin or his business.

Another Nelson business, Mobilic Nelson, has been caught up in the scam using similar email addresses.

Their Facebook account was duplicated, with the only difference between the two sites being the email address.

It had also posted a photo of the inside of the shop.

Mobilic Nelson owner Lana Comerford says she went back through all previous posts and the photo used wasn’t one they had taken.

“Someone had been in the shop to take the photo,” she says.

Before lockdown, people arriving at the shop to collect items had varying reactions to being told they were victims of a scam.

“Some understood, some were upset, some didn’t believe us, and some people told us that we had told them to come into the shop.”

She says the scam is a lot bigger than she first thought.

“I’m 100 per cent sure that at least $10,000 has been successfully scammed,” she says.

When she notified the police, they told her they couldn’t investigate on behalf of Mobilic, but could for anyone that was scammed.