Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Sgt Paul McDermott of An Garda Síochána said that a Longford man has been defrauded of €5,000 after trying to buy a tractor online. The man had agreed a price of €10,000 for the tractor.

He and the seller reached an agreement of €5,000 as a deposit with the balance to be paid on delivery of the tractor. The man transferred the money to what he believed to be a legitimate bank account but the tractor did not arrive and he has not been able to get in touch with the seller since.

Sgt McDermott has urged people to be cautious when purchasing items online. “While it might be OK for smaller items, transferring large sums of money like in this case can be very risky.”

He advised people not to transfer money to unknown sellers' accounts in advance of seeing the goods for sale.

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