Festool Fake Sites

[Haris_BIS]

Hello everyone,

This is Haris from Beaver Industrial Supply. We've recently become aware of fake scam sites that are using our likeness to deceive and steal from unsuspecting customers.

For Festool products, we only use BeaverTools.com

These counterfeit websites are posting Festool products at significantly lower prices, often using misleading claims like "store closing" or other tactics to lure victims into parting with their hard-earned money.

Unfortunately, we've already had several customers reach out to us after falling victim to these scams. They've reported purchasing products from these fake sites, only to never receive their orders. We want to emphasize the importance of being cautious when shopping online to avoid becoming the next victim.

We are actively working to take down these fake sites, but unfortunately, new ones continue to emerge. We urge you to exercise caution when shopping online and to only purchase Festool products from our official website BeaverTools.com

• Be wary of extremely low prices or "too good to be true" deals
• Verify the website's authenticity before making a purchase
• Only purchase from authorized dealers, like Beaver Industrial Supply

We appreciate your vigilance and cooperation in helping us combat these scams. If you have any concerns or questions, or if you've already fallen victim to one of these scams, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. BeaverTools.com or call us at 800-365-6677

 

[Cheese]

Verify the website's authenticity before making a purchase[/list]

[member=82277]Haris_BIS[/member] how would you go about verifying the authenticity of a website?  Thanks...

 

[Haris_BIS]

• Verify the website's authenticity before making a purchase

[member=82277]Haris_BIS[/member] how would you go about verifying the authenticity of a website?  Thanks...

The first sign that a site is not authentic is unrealistic prices that should be the very first and sometimes most decisive clue.
However, scammers are getting smarter and smarter every day.

If a site is suspicious there are several ways to authenticate.
Check the grammar and cadence of the site. We tend to dismiss seemingly small mistakes such as "see are deals" but those mistakes should cause some healthy concern. Sometimes it's something strange with the website. For Example: with our current scam site on their "about us" page, the formatting is extremely blown out in size and irregular. Also, EVERY product was marked as "new". Something irregular like this should also set off your internal alarm.

This next tip is not the strongest but still a good one. Most authentic sites will have a sign-up popup for some sort of newsletter or program. This should serve as proof that a business wants to do business with you in the future whereas most scammers want to take your $100 and run.

Next is to cross-search their online presence. Does their social media presence match their website and vice versa?
Nearly all authentic business will list their site listed somewhere on their social media platforms and in turn the social media icons will take you to their authentic pages. In our case, when you clicked on the socials of the fake website it would just take you to facebook.com but not the page -or- their youtube icon would take you to youtube.com but not their youtube page. Same goes for their Instagram and their Pinterest. These pages may go to the site but nowhere specific.

While on social media, make sure to check if they are posting somewhat regularly, or have in the past. My personal rule of thumb is that I look for at least 6 months of regular posting on any given social media platform

If you're still suspicious...

Next is Google, sometimes the fake sites will be on a Google search but only real businesses tend to have the Google reviews section. Within that section, you will find a website icon, and usually, that's the most authentic link. You should also look at their reviews. If they have only a few reviews that should also be cause for concern or if their reviews seem too generic.

If the site still seems inauthentic, look for contact information and call. Don't necessarily trust the chatbot to authenticate the site, get ahold of a human and then ask them if they're offering what you're looking at.

Lastly if you're really still curious you can use whois.com. Whois.com is an online resource that gives you some information about any given website. In our instance beavertools.com will show you that we registered the site in 1996 whereas this scam site was registered within the last year.

I'm sure there are other ways to authenticate that I didn't cover here but this guide is pretty extensive and how I gauge a fake site from a real one.

 

[Packard]

I just wrote to Festool USA asking if they had a master list of all authorized Festool retailers.  I am waiting for an answer on that.  I am not sure that they will generate that list.  They might think it is a competitor trying to learn of their customers.

However, if you have a specific vendor in mind, I am quite certain that Festool USA (in the USA) or the Festool distributor that serves your country, will tell you if that vendor is legit. 

Back in the 1960s and 1970s, Nikon was distributed by Ehrenreich Photo Optical Industries, Inc. in the USA.  You could, however, buy “gray market” legitimate Nikon products from distributors that were not authorized.

My college roommate when home to Singapore and “illegally” brought back a lens.  Genuine Nikon, but half price.  The warranty was the international one.  So if I had a problem with it, I would have to ship it out of the USA for service.

My guess is you can buy genuine Festool products that circumvent the proscribed supply chain.  The question then remains, is the risk of not having a warranty worth the savings.  And also, is it a real Festool product or a counterfeit.

 

[Packard]

I just wrote to Festool USA asking if they had a master list of all authorized Festool retailers.  I am waiting for an answer on that.  I am not sure that they will generate that list. 

Festool responded referring me to their link for finding a vendor.  An alphabetical list would have been handier for checking online vendors.

However they did respond in less than 2 hours.  I’m sure they will do the same if you come across a suspect site.

 

[MikeGE]

Back in the 1960s and 1970s, Nikon was distributed by Ehrenreich Photo Optical Industries, Inc. in the USA.  You could, however, buy “gray market” legitimate Nikon products from distributors that were not authorized.

My college roommate when home to Singapore and “illegally” brought back a lens.  Genuine Nikon, but half price.  The warranty was the international one.  So if I had a problem with it, I would have to ship it out of the USA for service.

Not to derail the conversation, but there is sometimes a lot of misunderstanding with the Nikon gray market treatment.  I don't know if Festool has a similar dealer market program.

A "gray market" Nikon product is any item that is purchased outside its intended market.  Unless the product is stolen, there is nothing illegal with the purchase.  The price of gray market Nikon products are less expensive than similar non-gray market products because the price does not include anticipated warranty costs that are spread over the entire market.  One of the largest photography vendors in the U.S. (B&H Photo) is an authorized Nikon USA distributor and sells clearly identified gray market Nikon products along with the Nikon USA products.  All items include the factory warranty, but the Nikon USA products come with a five-year warranty. 

Nikon USA service centers will repair all non-gray market equipment as long as the owner provides proof that the item was purchased in the intended market.  In 2009, I was in the States and brought my D700 that I purchased six months earlier in the German market.  While I was in Virginia, the shutter locked up and I could not use the camera.  My wife emailed a scanned copy of the purchase receipt and I included it when I sent the camera to the Melville, NY service center.  They verified I purchased the camera from an authorized German dealer and replaced the shutter under warranty.  I had the camera back in four days. 

Had I purchased the camera outside of the intended market, Nikon USA would not have repaired it because they would not be able to recover the repair cost from the other market.  Instead, I would have to send the camera back to the Nikon service center in Japan and wait.

 

[AtlasJeff]

Another one sadly.......https://powertooldepot.ca/
https://powertooldepot.ca/search?q=festool&options[prefix]=last

Copied our website upper slider and main page template too!

First indications came before Christmas asking if we would "Match this price"

Spread the word everyone!