At first glance, such fake firewood shops all look professional.
The websites are attractive, there is even an imprint with information about the supposed company and there are usually no major linguistic errors on the site. A 51-year-old was also deterred by this, as reported by the West Palatinate police headquarters .

A current case

A 51-year-old ordered firewood, pellets and briquettes worth over 1,000 euros from an online provider. In the end the man came away empty-handed.

He had already transferred the money to a French account in July and then waited in vain for the fuel to be delivered. As it now turns out, the 51-year-old fell for scammers. The website was a so-called fake shop. The site is currently no longer accessible. The police have started investigations.

How to recognize fake shops for firewood and pellets

Even if a site looks reputable in many respects, there are still several clues that can identify a fake shop. These tips will help:

  • Compare prices: When it comes to products that are currently very popular and expensive, criminals score points with low prices. This is also the case with firewood and pellets. You should therefore be skeptical if prices are too low.
  • Examine the imprint: Many fake shops can be easily recognized because the imprint, which is mandatory in German-speaking countries, is missing. That is not the case here. Please check the information in the legal notice. Does the company actually exist? What is at the specified address? Is it possible that there is space for storing large amounts of wood at this address? Some of the fake shops even provide a commercial registration number (HRA or HRB). at handelsregister.de and find out whether the number exists or whether it belongs to another company.
  • Search for reviews: Enter the website address into a search engine. There are often warnings about these fake shops. If you can't find anything on the site, you should also be careful! This is very unusual for an established company!
  • Advance payment alarm signal: “Make the payment directly from your bank account. Your order will only be shipped once the money has been received.” This is something similar to what it says during the ordering process. So you have to transfer the money before you receive the goods. If only this option is offered, it is a red flag. Because: If a transfer is made to the criminals' bank account, it is difficult to get the money back.

In a separate article we list some addresses behind which fake firewood shops are hiding (see HERE ).

You can do this if you have already ordered!

The chances of getting transferred money back are quite low. We still recommend that you contact your bank and ask about repayment options. The faster you do this, the higher the probability of success.

You should also file a police report. Therefore: Check online shops before you fall into the trap with the Fake Shop Detector. Simply enter your online shop address and shop more securely.

Article image: Pexels


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