10 February 2011
Anyone looking at buying an aircraft from online advertisers have been warned to be aware of fraudulent adverts. PC Steve Moffitt, the General Aviation Officer for Warwickshire Police, contacted FLYER regarding what he described as ‘attempts at advance fee fraud, relating to aircraft sales’. Basically this is where fraudulent adverts have been placed for the sale of aircraft, in order to try to obtain deposits off unsuspecting buyers who have no idea that the whole thing is a scam, and the aeroplane is legitimately owned by someone else.
PC Moffitt added, “These adverts are fake adverts, based on aircraft, which have usually been advertised elsewhere on other online sites by reputable dealers. These false adverts predominantly use the format of the legitimate online advert, and merely change the details of the owners or brokers address, with false contact details.
“This type of fraud was brought to my attention by Patriot Aviation at Coventry Airport, who identified a number of such advertisements, one such fraudulently using contact details similar to their own.
“Usually the false details used are very similar to the name of the legitimate owner, whilst the telephone numbers advertised are often premium rate numbers, to gain income for the fraudster.
“The adverts are usually placed with the aircraft at a much lower price than its actual marketable value, to encourage unwary buyers who think they are getting a great deal.
“It is at this point, when a potential buyer has been identified, that the fraud is committed
Here the false seller will advise the buyer to transfer a large deposit into a named bank account, to secure the sale.
“Obviously after this has been done, the money is removed and the potential buyer will discover that here is no actual aircraft for sale, they have lost the deposit money, and they have been the victim of the fraud.
“This type of fraud is known as an ‘Advance Fee Fraud’ and is becoming more predominant, in many different areas, and has recently been identified in several aviation forums.”
Asked what buyers should do to avoid getting involved with such a fraud, PC Moffitt suggested, “Quite often the best solution is to try to just simply verify the details of the seller. Word of mouth through the aviation community, internet searches on names, addresses, telephone numbers and registration of aircraft, asking to meet the seller or see the aircraft in question prior to any money exchanging are all good suggestions, as well as simply looking at price differentiations as these frauds are nearly always on aircraft that are priced extremely undervalue to try to attract buyers.
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