Fraudsters faking scrap metal deals
Monday, January 28, 2013 - 12:24:02
Although recycling is a positive thing that benefits the environment and the economy, the trade in scrap metal remains a problematic area, due to the significant amount of organised criminality that it attracts.
A new alert from the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), has focused on the growing number of cases in which fraudulent deals for scrap metal shipments have been established, duping legitimate buyers and robbing them of their money.
The scams are operated via a large scale form of identity thefts. Basically, the criminals masquerade as legitimate traders, with forged papers and contact details, while claiming to be able to offload large cargoes of scrap metal for recycling, at much less than the market rate.
This obviously attracts the attention of buyers, who snap up the great deals without realising that they are probably too good to be true.
The BIR announced that many of these transactions resulted in hundreds of thousands of pounds changing hands, which means that damage being done by the criminals is significant.
An additional problem is that these crimes tend to be put on the back burner by law enforcement agencies, because they are already snowed under by more immediate issues.
Finding proof of which jurisdiction the crime was committed in forms another part of the problem, because without evidence, few police organisations will actually get involved.
The BIR still urges the companies that fall victim to these frauds to get in touch with the authorities, although it is probably sensible for them to scrutinise all scrap metal deals, to weed out those that might be scams.
When it comes to mobile phone recycling, you can avoid any such issues by selling your old handset online to a reputable company, that will guarantee prompt payment on receipt of your device.
Latest News
Wednesday, May 13, 2020 - 10:32:41
Every industry around the world has been impacted by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and recycling has been especially affected as a result of force [...]
Read More
Wednesday, May 6, 2020 - 21:33:36
Apple has pulled back the curtains on the all-new iPhone SE, bringing with it a raft of eco-friendly design features which aim to improve the green cr [...]
Read More
Wednesday, April 29, 2020 - 21:32:00
Researchers from New Zealand have demonstrated a new recycling solution which could help companies to reclaim rare materials from smartphones, PCs and [...]
Read More