Legal wheels turn slowly to strike bogus website off the ‘net

With the Cameroonbased
bogus webpage
still to be found on
the web under www.
safmarineshippingline.com
– the genuine Safmarine
Container Lines is out with
all its legal guns blazing
as it tries to get the
page struck off the ‘net,
according to Victor Shieh,
the line’s Antwerp-based
PR and communications
executive.
He told FTW: “Our
legal department has made
contact with local police
authorities in Belgium (the
line’s head office location)
who are in turn in contact
with the relevant specialised
authorities competent to
deal with the matter.”
But, he pointed out,
it’s not purely a matter
of clicking a switch.
“Simply shutting down
such a website is not a
straightforward process,” he
added.
The problem with such
a spurious webpage is
that it doesn’t just stand
on its own. It is used by
the fraudsters behind it
as a back-up for the likes
of false company chain
messages to customers and
bogus bills of lading, proforma
invoices, certificate
of origin notices, and
phyto-sanitary certificates.
The idea is to use the
reputable Safmarine name
to bamboozle possible
victims. One of the ways
for companies targeted for
bogus invoicing – often
corporates, because the size
of the business clouds the
immediate identification
of false documentation –
to check on the veracity
of bills, is to call up
the sender’s details on
the web. A full-colour
website bearing a name
well known in the global
shipping industry will often
effectively fool the payer.
However, this clever
ruse is likely to be legally
depth-charged fairly soon.
And the good news from
Safmarine is that it has
received no reports of
customers losing money.
But, as it warned in the
original FTW story about
the bogus website: “Should
you or your business
partners receive any
communications from this
company kindly alert your
local country Safmarine
representative. We want to
avoid all and any risks to
our customers.”