Icelandic business owner warns of shipping container sale scams

Atli Bjarnason, a self-employed builder from Selfoss, is sounding the alarm about a wave of online scams targeting potential buyers of shipping containers. Bjarnason and his wife, Íris Rut Þorgeirsdóttir, own the company AB gámar, which has been impersonated in fraudulent advertisements circulating on social media.

“

This is quite amazing; the more one hears and does and is around this, the more one sees that this has just become a lot of trouble.

Bjarnason explained that while the company name might seem misleading now, it originated from his past business of importing and renting out shipping containers during the pandemic. Currently, AB gámar focuses on construction, and no containers are available for sale. However, unscrupulous individuals are creating fake ads, using the company's name but directing payments to personal bank accounts instead of the business's.

“

My company's name is always there, but then there is always a different ID number below and account information, and people have been contacting me asking if I am selling containers, which I deny, of course, I stopped doing that long ago, but then others have contacted me who have timely seen through that they are being scammed and are just letting me know.

He has encountered instances where scammers have used different identification numbers and bank details below the company name in the fraudulent ads. Bjarnason spoke with a young man in Reykjavik who claimed to be a victim of a scam himself and had his accounts frozen. Bjarnason expressed uncertainty about the young man's story but stated he doesn't want to accuse anyone without proof. He has received information from four individuals who were sent suspicious invoices.

“

This man, who received the account number of the woman in Siglufjörður, did not realize until after he had transferred 300,000 ISK to her that the account was not owned by AB gámar but by some woman in Siglufjörður, and then he couldn't reach her when he tried, but then he contacted me on Messenger.

One particularly concerning case involved a man who transferred 300,000 Icelandic krónur to an account belonging to a woman in Siglufjörður, only realizing afterward that the account was not associated with AB gámar. The man was unable to reach the woman, prompting him to contact Bjarnason. Bjarnason emphasizes that AB gámar is no longer involved in selling containers and warns the public to be extremely cautious of any advertisements using the company's name.

“

It's just some Photoshop.