Warning after garage is targeted by scammers

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CAR bargain hunters have been warned of the potential dangers of internet buying after a Forest garage was hit by hackers.

The international criminals hacked an eBay webpage used by Court Farm garage in Littledean – although the business’s main website and all customer data remained secure.

Some 50 highly desirable cars at “ridiculously cheap” prices appeared on the eBay page just 20 minutes after the garage on Broad Street had closed on a Saturday night early in December.

Owners Grant and Jenny Hughes spent the next two days fielding calls from would-be customers who had found the garage’s real number after failing to get through on the fake number inserted on the eBay page.

About a fortnight later another 61 cars appeared on the page, at which point Mr and Mrs Hughes closed it. Among the fake bargains was a Landrover Defender valued at £15,000 with a ticket price of £8,000 and other desirable vehicles such as motorhomes.

The hackers were hoping that customers would leave a substantial deposit over the phone.

The scam came to light when somebody rang “out of the blue” enquiring about an AC Cobra two-door roadster.

One customer offered another £10,000 on top of the asking price for the “Cobra” despite being told the garage did not have it for sale.

Mrs Hughes said: “We rang eBay straight away but the phone kept on ringing for the next six hours.

“Our fear was customers would turn up two or three days later to collect a car that did not exist.”

A number of people, from as far away as Birmingham, turned up at the garage asking about specific cars but fortunately none had put on a deposit.

The hackers had used pictures of cars that were being sold privately and showed registration numbers and documentation details allowing the cars to be checked.

Mrs Hughes said: “Our ethos is that the car has to be right for you, that is why we’ve got such great reviews.

“To think that someone could exploit that and put people at risk is horrible. It leaves you feeling so exposed.

“If a dealer is reputable and genuine, they will hold a car without a deposit until somebody has seen it.

“They will give you the information you need, they won’t press you into a decision.

“We would never ask for a deposit over the phone.

“It is terrifying to think that people are so desperate they will ring up and place a deposit – these people (the hackers) could take thousands in minutes.

“Honesty, trust and integrity is our motto – we’ll never be millionaires; but we sleep at night.”

Mrs Hughes said she did not blame eBay but they had closed the site to ensure customers were not ripped off.

The matter has been passed to the fraud squad in London and the criminals are believed to operate internationally.