For several days, residents have been fooled on social networks. They supposedly bought firewood from two companies in the town of Charleval (Eure), also victims of these crooks.
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“Be careful, this is a scam“. The message from the municipality of Charleval in Eure is clear. Christelle, a resident of Lyons-la-forêt, almost got cheated out of 300 euros. At the end of September, she spotted an interesting sale of firewood on the Facebook online market.
The seller calls her back, takes her order and contact details, and sends her a quote by email. It is at this moment that Christelle feels that there is something fishy going on…“What alerted me was the transfer. I never do it so I found it strange… generally it’s in cashshe explains. And it was in the name of Batimendel.”
See the report by Stéphane Gérain and Pierre Léonard:
duration of video: 00h01mn28s
Firewood scam
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©FTV
And for good reason, Batimendel is a construction materials company which has never sold firewood. But if Christelle escaped the scam, this is not the case for everyone. At least three elderly people have already been scammed.
“There are some who have made deposits, there are some who have paid. These people have filed a complaint at the police station,” explains Marc Lemaître, agency manager at Batimandel.
Individuals pose as businesses in Charleval, which do not sell firewood.
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© France Télévisions
The brand also filed a complaint for identity theft, as did the adjoining company. Linandelle who is in the same situation. Batimendel also notified Facebook, but this morning the scam was still online.
“We reported it to Facebook, but we saw that the advertiser had recreated the ad under another name. It’s the same ad, with even cheaper wood,” protests Marc Lemaître.
Charleval town hall takes this scam very seriously. She published an alert on social networks to prevent other residents from being fooled.
“After collecting the money, they stop answering calls and do not deliver to customers, leaving customers with no recourse to get a refund. It is important to emphasize that neither Linandelle nor Batimandel sell firewood. We therefore invite you to exercise the greatest vigilance if people contact you claiming to be sellers of these companies.” indicates the town hall.
