BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Cycle traders are urged to be on their guard as distributor 2pure and retailer Merlin Cycles have been targeted by sophisticated fraudsters this week.
Both companies were fast to act and neither are out of pocket despite the efforts of the would-be fraudsters.
2pure was phoned and emailed by a man purporting to be a staffer at Merlin Cycles. While the email order looked genuine, the fraudster gave a name the distributor didn’t recognise – an Adam Oldham – and the order was for a large amount of stock.
Their suspicions raised, 2pure queried it directly with Merlin Cycles, who revealed they knew nothing about the order. It was then cancelled before any stock or money was sent.
The matter is now in the hands of the Fraud Squad but the report is a reminder for the trade to beware this common con trick. The attempt bears a striking resemblance to fraud attempts we’ve reported on in the past, like this one from 2013.
Read more about avoiding being scammed here.
