'Platforms should be legally required to take steps to verify the identity of certain business users, including advertisers and merchants, and particularly in relation to financial products - and investment scams are where the greatest losses are,' Ms Cass-Gottlieb said. It wants new obligations placed on social media, including mandatory removal of scams and scammers from the platform, improving how users can report scams and more robust methods to guarantee businesses are who they say they are. It has called on the government to do something about the situation. The ACCC does not currently have the power to force Facebook or other digital platforms to remove scam content.

'I think if you have been alerted to the fact that someone is illegally trading on your platform and they are scamming money off people then … and you do nothing, then yeah I think you absolutely are responsible because you've got the power to shut it down and you didn't.' Social media companies need to do more: ACCC 'Almost every staff member in ABC has reported it to Facebook and not one of us has had a response back,' Ms Hull said.

Like Magellan Logistics, ABC Shipping has reported the situation to the social media platform. 'It's really quite scary how legitimate these Facebook pages look compared to ours.' Suspected scammers are also using ABC Shipping Containers' photos on multiple Facebook pages. 'However, if you google 1519, it will take you straight to 1517, where it looks like there was a container park.' 'Our street number was 1517, and these guys had claimed that they were 1519, which actually doesn't exist,' the company's logistics coordinator, Kelly Hull, said. The company address on the invoice is part of the same commercial block where a legitimate shipping container sales company - ABC Shipping Containers - operated until mid-2022.

The scammers sent Ms Ellison another invoice using a second Australian company’s logo. Magellan Logistics is not the only business affected. Victoria Police said it would not comment while the investigation was ongoing. 'I spoke with several different officers from that station, and a senior member of the force explained how much of this stuff is reported to them, how overwhelming it is for police to investigate it and how futile often because by the time it's reported to them, that money's already offshore.' Magellan Logistics said it also notified the Australian Cyber Security Centre, which forwarded the complaint to the local police in Broadmeadows, in outer Melbourne. 'I rang and they said they've heard of this business going on and it’s actually ruining their good name, so I was like, 'oh, I'm so sorry,'' she said. Instead of paying, she looked up the phone number of the Australian company listed on an invoice she was sent - Magellan Logistics. Ms Ellison realised something was wrong when she received another email asking for a further $5,000 for 'refundable insurance' before the container could be delivered. The phone seemed to click each time and 'sorry, I can't get hold of the container people today', or 'we're having problems with the logistics.''

'Lots of phone calls, lots of excuses … it was always someone from overseas. She says she followed up over the phone and was given only excuses. 'They come in and … work to take advantage of people who, from a business perspective or a personal perspective, are vulnerable.'Īfter paying, Ms Ellison received an email saying her container would arrive in four to six days - but it did not.

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