Jakab Motors warns buyers of Big Red Tractor’s online scam

A new online tractor scam is falsely claiming to be based in northern Victoria – and has already cost one farmer $60,000.

Tractor buyers are again being urged to tread with caution with a new online scam business falsely claiming to be based in northern Victoria.

The revelation comes as low supply and high demand for tractors continues to plague the Australian farming sector in the face of crippling supply chain shortages.

A month after first reporting that scammers were posing as online tractor dealer All States Machinery, The Weekly Times can reveal a new scam with Cohuna business Jakab Motors spending the past month fielding dozens of calls from people trying to contact supposed farm machinery retailer Big Red Tractors.

Jakab Motors director Rachael Warren and her team had discovered Big Red Tractors did not exist.

“It probably started about a month ago and the number of calls we have been getting from people inquiring about Big Red Tractors is increasing,” Mrs Warren said.

“I feel so sorry for people losing their money.”

On the Big Red Tractors website, they list their address as 6706 Murray Valley Highway and their phone number as [phone].

However, at the 6706 Murray Valley Highway address is the dairy farm formerly belonging to Jakab Motors employee Becky Thompson’s family, the Wights.

Jakab Motors and other businesses around Cohuna have also received calls as buyers try to verify whether Big Red Tractors is real.

Investigations have revealed the domain name for the Big Red Tractors website is registered to an individual in Reykjavik, Iceland, under the name Namecheap Inc.

Mrs Warren said she recently received a call from a buyer in Darwin who thought they were ringing Big Red Tractors after he paid the scammers $60,000 for a tractor he has never seen.

“ONGOING ISSUE”

Tractor and Machinery Association of Australia executive director Gary Northover said online farm machinery scams had been an ongoing problem for buyers.

“Fake websites are pretty easily created now and in extreme cases people are paying for machinery or paying deposits,” he said.

“It is an ongoing problem that has been underlying for some time, even before some of the machinery stock shortages we have had recently.

“Our advice to buyers is if it looks too good to be true it probably is.

“If buyers are unsure they can consult our tractor buying guide to look at which models are sold in Australia and meet our standards.

“Buyers should also try to work with a reputable business and talk to them about the product.”

Earlier this year Western District farmers Katherine and Greg Stephens lost $17,000 in an online farm machinery scam through fraudulent seller All States Machinery.

Mrs Warren said most of the callers Jakab Motors had received were inquiring buyers who have not paid any money yet, but wanted to check whether the company was real.

“Most people have been shocked when we have to tell them the company does not exist. We really have to try and convince them,” she said.

Mrs Warren said she believed the scammers were using machinery stock shortages to try to steal from under-pressure buyers.

“I am really disappointed because they are taking advantage of people desperate to find machinery,” she said.

“They have found a demographic that has been hit and they are taking advantage of people in that situation.

“We rely on online sales, so it makes it harder for everyone when scams like this make people lose confidence.”

Supply chain shortages have slowed global vehicle and equipment production which has increased demand as businesses struggle to purchase machinery.

This increase in demand saw international heavy industrial equipment auctioneers Ritchie Bros. saw transactions rise by 79 per cent and the median sale price jump from $39,800 to $47,200, an 18.6 per cent increase in the past 12 months.

As for stopping the Big Red Tractors scam, Mrs Warren has been directing all her callers to report the scam to police and to Scamwatch Australia.

“It really bothers me that this is happening,” she said.

“We need to get everyone to report this scam and then hopefully the authorities can shut it down.

“If you’re making a purchase and you can’t touch it, you have to be really careful.

“I think the best thing you can do is talk to your dealer and ask them any questions.”