A counterfeiter from Burnley has been jailed for 31 months after selling thousands of fake service history books online.
This follows an investigation by Lancashire County Council’s Trading Standards team.
Burnley Crown Court heard how a representative of the Ford Motor Company bought a service book from the eBay seller SimpliLiving, which contained service stamps from several Ford dealers. Neither the book nor the stamps were genuine.
Later, a member of the Trading Standards team bought a forged Vauxhall service book for £34.95, while a representative of Jaguar Land Rover bought one for a Range Rover at a cost of £36.95.
In September 2022, a warrant was executed for the arrest of Gulab Mustofa at his home in Burnley, where officers found a Volkswagen service history book and a supply of rigid envelopes.
Further investigations revealed that Mostofa had made £33,778 from sales of 2,206 service books, with a net income of £27,638.29. He later told officers that he didn’t believe there was a problem as other online sellers were doing it.
Nick McNamara, Trading Standards officer at Lancashire County Council, said: “Selling fake goods is illegal and in this case, potentially dangerous.
“Honest buyers could end up purchasing a car which appears to have an excellent service history and has been well cared for, when this is false.
“Protecting consumers by removing illegal operators from the marketplace is vital to ensure that goods and services are real, will last or most importantly, that they will be safe to use.”
Source: Lancashire County Council
Tracey Pointer
I’m surprised that Ebay allows this behaviour to continue 😳