An advertising scam offering cheap Apple and Samsung mobile phones has led to thousands of copies of a magazine being pulped.
The ad was placed in My Business magazine, which is based in Sydney, but it was an employee of the WA Small Business Development Corporation who spotted the scam.
"He contacted the Department of Commerce which then launched an investigation," an SBDC spokesperson said.
My Business editor, Phillip Tarrant, said that he had to pulp thousands of copies of the magazine.
"We've been publishing for 25 years now but we fell victim to a very sophisticated scam which was one of about 500 advertisements we handle every month," he said.
WA's Consumer Protection Department issued a warning about the advertisement on Wednesday, saying that consumers and businesses should not respond to it.
The advertisement offers half-price Apple and Samsung mobile phones and a free phone if three mobiles are purchased. It also offers cheap tablets and cameras.
Consumer Protection Commissioner David Hillyard said that the advertisement could appear in other publications and online.
"A clear warning sign in this ad is the lack of any branding and having an email address as the only method of contact," he said.
"However other scams of this type have used fake or stolen business names and Australian phone numbers, which are normally diverted overseas."
The contact email address on the advertisement is orderproduct@salesperson.net
"The best advice is to have a clear idea of exactly who you are dealing with before responding to an ad, and definitely don't hand over any money until you are sure it is an authentic company offering credible and genuine discounts," Mr Hillyard said.
WA Small Business Commissioner David Eaton said full page advertisements like those used in the scam could be very tempting and appearing in print wrongly gave them an air of legitimacy.
"Scammers are becoming more brazen every day, but people need to be on the alert of offers that seem too good to be true," he said.
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