Western District farmers Katherine and Greg Stephens lose $17,000 in online farm machinery scam

Another buyer has been swindled after a Western District farming family lost thousands to an online machinery scam last month.

A Victorian farming family is the latest victim of an online farm machinery scam that is swindling tens of thousands of dollars from unsuspecting buyers.

Katherine and Greg Stephens, who farm at Mortlake and the NSW Riverina at Finley, lost $17,000 after paying online for what they thought was a second-hand excavator being sold through a legitimate internet farm machinery seller – All States Machinery.

The family paid $14,000 in early April for what was advertised as a 2004 Caterpillar 315CL, plus $3000 for delivery from the Gold Coast to their Finley farm.

Mr Stephens said all correspondence with a number of people from All States Machinery seemed legitimate.

The Stephens family lost $17,000 in the online scam.

However, he said he became suspicious when he stopped receiving correspondence from All States Machinery and the excavator had not arrived.

“They knew a lot about the machinery and then one day we never heard back and their phone number was disconnected,” he said.

The Stephens family are not alone. Melbourne-based buyer Andy Knight last month told The Weekly Times his family had been scammed by All States Machinery having paid more than $13,000 for a second-hand tractor.

All States Machinery used a similar method to scam the Stephens and Knight families, posing as brokers for banks that were selling repossessed machinery.

“They said they were acting on behalf of the banks; we had phone conversations. They even have a registered ABN,” Mr Stephens said.

Mr Stephens said he felt hurt that his family had lost the money, which could have gone a long way with their house renovations.

“We work hard for our money and it is just dirty and wrong what they have done,” he said.

“They are scamming legitimate people and it’s not right.”

The Stephens family have reported the incident to Warrnambool Police.

The Weekly Timesasked the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission if they were investigating All States Machinery after this series of scams.

An ACCC spokesman said they could not comment on current or possible investigations.

The ACCC said between January 1, last year and March 30 this year, Scamwatch received 375 reports of online scams relating to tractors or other types of agricultural machinery (such as excavators, backhoes and diggers) valued at more than $1.85m.