General News
1 June, 2023
Warning over Facebook scam
LOCAL business NQ Trucks Wreckers is warning people to be wary of Facebook scammers after someone made a copy of their Facebook page and ripped people off thousands of dollars.
NQ Truck Wreckers is a family-owned business that has operated in Mareeba for two decades and say they have never advertised parts for sale or anything of the like on their Facebook page.
Any inquiries about parts
are through their website, www.nqtruckwreckers.com.au.
The fake page is named NQ Truck & 4WD Wreckers and contains images taken from the real NQ Truck Wreckers and other areas, several posts had numerous comments that were all hidden and the posts themselves have since been deleted.
NQ Truck Wreckers coowner Jodi Aiston said they get a call a day from people asking after parts and she says roughly 50 percent of them have already paid.
Ms Aiston said she first became aware of the scam in March when a customer called asking after parts that were sup-posed to be delivered to him.
“He then mentioned Facebook and we don’t market on Facebook at all so that is when we first figured out it was a scam,” she said.
“That was in the middle of March and basically someone has created a Facebook page, taken stock directly from our website and were using that to
advertise.
“Everybody has been really good, no one has really abused us or anything.”
Ms Aiston immediately lodged a report with Cyber.gov.au and the Queensland Police were soon onto the case.
After a brief investigation and tracking of scammer’s bank details, they were traced back to New South Wales and Queens-land Police were then forced to put the matter in the hands of their NSW counterparts.
The last correspondence Ms Aiston had with Cyber.gov.au and Queensland Police was on 17 April. She has contacted NSW Police and has not yet received a response.
Ms Aiston has also reported the page multiple times to Facebook but it remains active so in the meantime, she is imploring people to check carefully when purchasing things through Facebook and to contact NQ Truck Wreckers directly on 0414 666 776 or through their website to inquire about parts.
At her wits end, she contacted Member for Kennedy Bob Katter whose office escalated the issue to the cyber security department under the Home Affairs
Minister, who would send it onto the Facebook’s Care of Government Relations contact.
Here are three simple steps you can follow if you believe you have been a victim of a scam.
1. Contact your bank. Contact your financial institution if you think your credit cards or bank account may be at risk. They may be able to close your account or stop a transaction.
2. Refer to Scamwatch. If you get a scam message or phone call, you should ignore it and report it to ACCC’s Scamwatch.
3. Report a cybercrime or security incident on ReportCyber
