Bank of Ireland is warning the farming community to be on alert for fraudsters targeting business owners online, including farmers, with fake farm machinery sales.

Fraudsters are directly targeting famers with pop-up social media ads, leading to "bogus" machinery websites. Many scams are centered around vehicles, while others create websites to look like well-known companies. 

Fraudsters are highly skilled at creating fake websites that appear genuine and persuade shoppers to share their payment information, according to Bank of Ireland.

"The purchaser is often lured by the false promise of a reduced price or bargain and asked to pay directly, sending money from their bank account to another via bank transfer, which provides little protection.

"Once the payment is transferred, the seller usually cuts all contact, and the product or service doesn’t arrive," Bank of Ireland said. The banks' fraud and security team will give a series of talks on the topic at the National Ploughing Championships.

"Financial crime is a persistent and growing problem in our society, and no individual or type of business is safe from being targeted by fraudsters," head of fraud at Bank of Ireland, Nicola Sadlier said.

"The farmer contacted the company via the social media platform and details were exchanged.  The bogus company then sent an invoice for the machinery and payment of [circa] €49,000 was sent for the purchase.

"Once funds were sent, they did not receive a response to emails and all communication ceased," Sadlier said and added that fraudsters are directly targeting businesses daily, finding new ways to directly target specific business types.

Bank of Ireland has issued the following advice to customers when making a purchase for their farm or business:

Research and read reviews to check the site and the seller are genuine;
Be alert to poor grammar and spelling, poor image quality or vague product descriptions;
Beware of pop-up ads on your social media feed (fraudsters can pay to have their ads appear there);
Go directly to the online shopping site by typing the web address into your web browser;
Always view large purchases in person prior to making full payment for them;
Links in unsolicited emails or on social media are not always safe and should be avoided;
Use secure payment methods, try and pay by debit or credit card, or the secure payment method recommended by reputable online retailers and auction sites, as this could give you more protection.

If people suspect they have been a victim of fraud, they should contact their bank immediately so that the bank can take action to stop a fraud in progress and try to recover funds, Bank of Ireland said.