Skip to content
All categories

Heating & Fuel

With heating oil, wood pellets and firewood, fake shops usually demand high advance payments for large delivery quantities. Consumer advice centres observe this scam clustering in winter and in phases of sharply risen energy prices, when many households are looking for low-cost suppliers.

When Heating & Fuel stands outPeak: Jan–Feb, Sep–Dec
  1. January: peak
  2. February: peak
  3. March
  4. April
  5. May
  6. June
  7. July
  8. August
  9. September: peak
  10. October: peak
  11. November: peak
  12. December: peak

Seasonal: a surge in the autumn and winter months and in times of sharply risen energy prices, when demand for cheap heating material is high.

The dealer card of a fake fuel dealer

What is faked is the regional identity. What is on the card is easy to invent. What is missing can be checked.

Dealer card (example)

Name
Sounds like a dealer from your area
Claim
Depot
Cannot be traced
Missing
Delivery area
Not stated or too wide
Missing
Contact
Sometimes only through messengers
Claim
Price per litre or tonne
Clearly below regional comparison sites
Claim
Payment
Advance payment for the whole delivery
Claim
  • Claim in the shop
  • Missing or cannot be checked
Structure taken from the profile of the category. The card shows no real company.

What to watch for in Heating & Fuel

The general warning signs with examples
  • The price per litre or tonne is conspicuously below what price-comparison portals show for the region.
  • Advance payment for the full delivery quantity is demanded exclusively, with no partial payment or payment on delivery.
  • The imprint gives no traceable warehouse address or delivery logistics for heating oil/pellets/firewood.
  • The shop has only recently come online and was evidently set up specifically for the current heating season.

Typical scams in Heating & Fuel

  • A newly registered shop advertises heating oil, pellets or firewood at a price well below the current market level of comparable suppliers.
  • Full advance payment for the entire delivery quantity is demanded by bank transfer, often citing supposed supply shortages meant to suggest the need for quick action.
  • After payment, the delivery is postponed again and again until contact with the supplier breaks off entirely.
  • The shop sometimes poses as a supposed regional fuel dealer without any traceable company address or delivery region.

Profile

Typical products
Heating oil, wood pellets, firewood and fireplace wood.
Price pattern
Price per litre or tonne clearly below regional comparison sites, with advance payment required for the whole delivery.
What is faked
A regional dealer identity: the name and look of a local fuel dealer, with no traceable depot or delivery area. Contact sometimes runs through messengers.

Recently listed in Heating & Fuel

All shops in the directoryWarning list

Check a shop from this category

The shop check runs 39 check modules and explains every finding. No sign-up, no cost.

Check a shop

More categories

All categories
Dennis Bölling, Founder · QAD SoftUpdated

Sources