Solar/photovoltaic fake shopping: Several solar system fake shops uncovered

Cybercrime specialists from the Schwabach Criminal Police Inspectorate and the Bavarian Cybercrime Central Office succeed in striking suspected fake shop operators - two accused in custody.

Several fake shops, numerous victims, six-figure damage – the Schwabach criminal police, together with the Bavarian Cybercrime Central Office, have succeeded in striking the operators of fake online shops. Two suspects are in custody.

The cybercrime specialists from the Schwabach criminal police and the Bavarian Cybercrime Central Office have been conducting an investigation against the operators of fraudulent online shops (so-called “fake shops”) since July 2022. The starting point of the investigation was a criminal complaint from a victim from Schwabach.

After extensive technical investigations, two 21 and 22 year old men from the Herford district in East Westphalia were identified who are strongly suspected of having designed several fake shops and posted them on the Internet. They are also said to have misused the data of real existing companies by imitating their websites and using these fake online shops for their fraudulent purposes.

The suspects are said to have posed as dealers in high-quality photovoltaic and solar modules. The defrauded customers paid in advance without ever receiving the products they ordered.

Specifically, these were the following fake shops:

• prestige-solar.de
• solar-boorberg.de
• delta-solartechnik.de
• huppermans-photovoltaik.de
• eletrox-solar.at
• NTG-solar.de

The investigations, which have been carried out covertly for several months by the Schwabach criminal police and the ZCB, led to the two accused who operated the fake online shops and are said to have caused financial loss to the deceived customers amounting to at least around EUR 140,000.

On March 14, 2023, officers from the Schwabach criminal police, with the participation of a public prosecutor from the ZCB, searched the apartments of the accused in the Herford district (North Rhine-Westphalia). The large-scale search operation included officers from the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office, the Herford district police authority and forces from the special operations team at the Bielefeld police headquarters.

As a result, the search measures led to the seizure of numerous IT evidence such as cell phones and laptops, as well as written documents. In addition, the officers executed arrest warrants previously obtained against the 21- and 22-year-old suspects, who are now in custody.

The investigations by the ZCB and the Cyber ​​Crime Commissioner of the Schwabach Criminal Police Department - including those who may have been involved in the crime - are continuing. The defendants are accused of, among other things, commercial fraud in several cases. The law provides for a prison sentence of 6 months to 10 years.

If you want to avoid falling for a fake shop, you should find out in advance about some features and methods to recognize and avoid fake online shops. Here are some steps you can take to spot fake shops and protect yourself:

Check the URL of the website. Some fake shops use similar URLs as serious shops, but with slight deviations. For example, the letter “O” can be slightly modified by a zero or the name of the shop. A quick review of the website address can help to confirm the authenticity of the shop.

Look for reviews and experiences from other buyers. If the online store is reputable, you should usually be able to find customer reviews and testimonials from other buyers. If such information is missing or is unusually positive, you should be cautious.

Check the imprint of the online shop. The imprint provides information about who is responsible for the shop. In addition to a telephone number, an email address and a postal address, a VAT identification number and a commercial register number should also be listed there. Check these numbers for authenticity by entering them at handelsregister.de or ust-id-pruefen.de.

Pay attention to pricing and offering strategies. Another indication of a possible fake shop are unrealistically low prices, especially in comparison to other shops. If a price sounds too good to be true, it often is.

Use fake shop finder tools. There are now some online tools that can help you identify a fake shop. These include, for example, the consumer advice center's fake shop finder or TrustedShops.

If you suspect that you have purchased from a fake shop, you should immediately contact your bank or financial service provider and report the incident.