An ECA member in the Western Cape has asked the ECA to warn fellow members and indeed, all electrical contractors across the country, to be wary of a scam that targets electrical contractors who have accounts with suppliers of electrical products.
The member says that in October, three large orders were placed with two of his suppliers, ACDC and Voltex.
“It seems that the fraudsters check which company vehicles collect goods from these suppliers and then call and order electrical goods on the company’s account for collection. They then send a third party, or even use a service provider such as Bolt or Uber, to collect the order, and off they go … and the electrical contractor is left with a very large invoice to pay!
“Fortunately, the suppliers know us well, so on the three fraud attempts, we were phoned first to verify the orders. When the driver arrived at one of the companies, they stalled the driver until I could get there,” the member explained.
He said that, while the driver was waiting, the fraudsters tried to ‘rush’ the order by phoning the driver and the supplier’s salesperson continuously.
“The supplier then told the scammer that he should come and collect the goods himself, and he stopped calling. Eventually, the driver was allowed to go although it’s not certain whether or not he was part of the scam.”
Contractors and suppliers alike should be wary of orders placed by telephone for collection – especially if:
- The caller is unknown to the supplier, or a random salesperson takes the order. Buyers are inclined to ask for a preferred salesperson by name.
- The purchase order number is a random number and not the same format as the regular buyer would normally use.
- The goods are collected by drivers with no personal or vehicle identification and who are unknown to the supplier.
