25.04.2025

More fraudsters to look out for

In the UK National Construction and Agricultural Theft Team (NCATT) has issued a warning following three attempted equipment rental frauds using the same mobile phone number.

The fraudster has posed in turn as a representative of Glencar Construction North West, FDT Construction and Graham Construction, attempting to rent telehandlers and excavators for delivery to sites in Lancashire, Warrington and Manchester.

In the most recent attempt, the individual claimed to be Richard Keen, head of marketing for Graham Construction, using a slightly misspelled email address. Earlier attempts were made under the names of Martin Hill and a caller claiming to be from FDT Construction - which was found to be using a virtual London office.

The police have linked the cases through the mobile number 07350 797155, which was used in all three attempts. Equipment requested included a six metre telehandler, several excavators.

Due to the amount of information we receive regarding fraud and theft, we are considering developing a dedicated ‘fraud prevention’ section on Vertikal.net listing known feaudsters, and stolen equipment in a bid to help companies check if a potential customer is on the list, or help recover a stolen machine. Please let us know your thoughts on this in the comments or at [email protected]