Alert : Fake Firewood and Wood Pellet Sellers Offering Heavily Discounted Prices

As temperatures drop, online listings for firewood and wood pellets at exceptionally attractive prices become increasingly common. The scam involves collecting payment before delivery, then disappearing without ever shipping the order.

Stay vigilant: a few simple checks can often help you distinguish a legitimate supplier from a fraudulent seller before making a payment.

Firewood and Wood Pellet Scam

Fake online stores and fraudulent listings offer firewood logs, bags or pallets of fuel at prices significantly below market rates. Victims pay for their orders in advance, often by bank transfer, but never receive anything.

How the Scam Works

Fraudsters sometimes impersonate established businesses: company names, logos, addresses or registration numbers may be copied to gain customers’ trust. These listings also circulate on popular platforms such as Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree, Craigslist and WhatsApp, featuring attractive photographs and promises of fast delivery.

Warning signs: unusually large discounts compared with normal prices, mandatory advance payment, sellers who can only be contacted by mobile phone or messaging apps, business registration details that are difficult to verify, customer reviews appearing exclusively on the seller’s website, and well-known brands offered outside their usual distribution channels.

Some Practical Tips:

• 🔥 Compare prices: a substantial difference from standard firewood or wood pellet prices should prompt you to slow down before placing an order.
• 🏢 Verify the seller’s identity: look for a physical address, a landline telephone number and a business registration number that matches the information displayed.
• 🔎 Look for independent reviews: search for the seller’s name alongside terms such as scam or reviews, rather than relying solely on testimonials published on the store’s website.
• 💳 Avoid mandatory bank transfers: whenever possible, choose payment on delivery or a credit or debit card, which may offer better options for disputing a transaction.
• 📦 Check official sales channels: if a brand states that it sells exclusively through its own store or authorised retailers, listings elsewhere should raise concerns.
• 📸 Keep records before buying: screenshots, contact details, terms of sale and correspondence may prove useful if the seller disappears.

Conclusion

An exceptionally low price for firewood or wood pellets may conceal a carefully organised scam. If you have been deceived, contact your bank immediately, request a payment recall if you paid by bank transfer, arrange for your card to be blocked if its details have been compromised, and preserve all available evidence.

Reporting the incident through official channels such as Trading Standards or the National Cyber Security Centre (UK), or the Federal Trade Commission or FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (US), may help authorities identify and take action against a malicious website. You can also use our fraud reporting assistant and warn people you know to help prevent further victims.

These additional resources on our website can help you verify an offer, respond after making a payment or learn to recognise common scams:

• 👉 Have a suspicious listing, quotation or offer assessed
• 👉 Check the risk level of a link or website
• 👉 Get help after falling victim to fraud
• 👉 Learn essential precautions against online scams

Written by : René Ronse
Sources & Methodology : This alert is based on regular monitoring of national reporting platforms, feedback from victims, statements issued by the relevant authorities and other information available at the time of writing or the latest update. Its purpose is to identify the method used, the warning signs and the appropriate steps to take when faced with this type of fraud.
About the author : René Ronse, manager of ArnaqueOuFiable.com. Expert in consumer cybersecurity, specialist in detecting online fraud, product transparency, and digital compliance. He has over 20 years of experience analyzing hidden subscription mechanisms, unreadable terms and conditions, aggressive sales tactics, and deceptive commercial practices on the web.
Last updated : 30 October 2026.
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