A Romanian gang laundered €6m in stolen money through Irish banks by scamming people into thinking they were buying cars, tractors and machinery online.

Detective Superintendent Michael Cryan told the Irish Farmers Journal that an estimated €22m was stolen by the gang from people across Europe.

“They would offer a tractor, a car or a piece of machinery on a website and use a number of different platforms at the same time.

Farmers would transfer money to an account and never get the tractor

“They’d have a bank account set up with the platform and put an item up for sale.

“They could take a picture of a car on the road and put it up.

“Farmers would transfer money to an account and never get the tractor. By the time they make contact with the platform, the money was gone from the account,” he said.

He added that the only connection with Ireland was that Irish bank accounts were used to launder the money but said he couldn’t see how Irish farmers weren’t affected by such scams.

They’ll sell anything they can

Some 148 people opened bank accounts in Ireland under false names as part of the scam, with one person opening 40 bank accounts alone.

If you think you’re buying a tractor in the Czech Republic and they’re asking you to send money to a bank account in Spain, there’s something wrong with that

“They’ll sell anything they can. If you’re buying something [online] for €5,000 or €6,000 when it should be €10,000, there is something dodgy there.

“If the bank account is in a different country, again, it’s a red flag. If you think you’re buying a tractor in the Czech Republic and they’re asking you to send money to a bank account in Spain, there’s something wrong with that,” he said.

Superintendent Cryan advised farmers to use an online IBAN checker which can tell you what country and bank an IBAN is in.

“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” he said.