The National Equipment Register was notified of an equipment purchase scam against an NER member rental company in Illinois which bears similarity to scams occurring nationwide.

National Equipment Register was notified of an equipment purchase scam against an NER member rental company in Illinois which bears similarity to scams occurring nationwide.

In December, a subject using the name Alex Jacobs phoned a contractors supply and rental business in Illinois, requesting a quote on three tampers. The subject provided specific make and model, and related that he'd been referred to the business by the manufacturer. A quote was provided, and an order placed over the phone. The subject asked to pay using several credit cards, and provided the numbers and billing address. The seller researched the company the subject claimed to work for, and located websites which corresponded to the company name, billing and shipping addresses, and provided phone numbers. The manufacturer also confirmed that they'd received an inquiry and directed the subject to the seller as an area dealer.

Soon after, the subject called again and purchased three more tampers. All of the items were shipped direct from the manufacturer to a business address in Elk Grove, Illinois.

Subsequently, the equipment company received notifications of charge backs against the multiple card transactions, the card holder claiming the transactions were not authorized. It was then determined that the business the subject claimed to represent may be a front for committing the fraudulent purchase of equipment, which is then shipped to Toronto, Canada.

Details on the subject and company:

Alex Jacobs

Entec Industrial

50 South Main Street

Suite 200

Naperville, IL 60540

630-219-1262

Ship to address:

685 Lunt Avenue

Elk Grove Village, Illinois, 60007

The subject claimed that the shipping address was Entec's warehouse. In reality, it is a freight forwarding company which was also victimized in the scam, forwarding the products to a recipient in Toronto, Canada.

Police reports have been filed in Rockford, Elk Grove Village and Naperville, Illinois regarding this incident, which brought to light that additional scams using the same names and addresses had been committed against another contractors supply business and a truck parts supplier.

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