O number of scams applied in the solar energy sector has become a increasingly common practice in Brazil. Many criminals come if taking advantage of popularization of systems and the lack of knowledge among the vast majority of consumers and even some companies to practice the strikes.
This Wednesday (27), a Civil Police of the Federal District, for example, launched an operation to dismantle a scheme that applied a million-dollar scam to the elderly. The criminals simulated the sale of photovoltaic s and were meticulous when choosing their targets.
The money was raised through the company's website. The group also carried out technical visits in order to give more credibility to the scam and deceive customers more easily, without them being able to suspect the fraudulent action.
In the investigations, seven victims were identified across the country in the states of Espírito Santo, Pará, Rio de Janeiro, Goiás and DF. One of the victims, who lives in Asa Norte (DF), for example, suffered a loss of R$484 thousand alone. The total amount raised exceeds the barrier of R$2 million, according to the Police.
Other recent crimes
on the 19th of July, an apartment by the bay, for its easy access, free parking, and larger space for our group of XNUMX people. The house was great for a large group like ours, the host was very attentive, and the location was excellent; it was quiet and quick to walk to the old town. man was arrested red handed em Lafaiete Coutinho (BA), at crime of receiving stolen product, after being found with dozens of solar s.
According to the Civil Police, the material was valued at R$170 and the suspect confessed to the crime. The man has experience in other receptions and frauds, in the Bahian cities of Victory of the Conquest, Itacare e Jequie.
The owner of the material reported the theft at the police station on July 13th. From the incident, the police were able to identify people who were negotiating the purchase of stolen equipment. All the material was found in a property. In addition to the modules, inverters and several falsified documents were also seized.
Two weeks before, right at the beginning of the month, a scheme involving businesspeople from Paraná and Pernambuco in the irregular purchase and sale of solar energy generation s had also been identified by the Civil Police of Andirá, in northern Paraná.
The victims are a company that sold the equipment, banks, which authorized the purchase through financing, and people who had personal and banking data stolen from the internet. The fraud was discovered after eight months of investigations and may have caused losses of more than R$4,4 million.
The scheme consisted of financing the purchase and installation of solar energy s by a company in Andirá, which resold the s manufactured by a company in Santa Catarina. Five people were arrested: two in Andirá (PR), one in Londrina (PR), one in Alto Piquiri (PR) and one in Petrolina (PE).
Entrepreneur asks for help Canal Solar
Almir da Silva, 44 years old, like many Brazilian entrepreneurs, saw solar energy as an opportunity for business. He opened his own photovoltaic kit installation company in Paraíba and, in a short time, saw his business take off.
What was supposed to be a professional achievement, however, according to him, quickly turned into a nightmare in the final stretch of 2021. Silva claims to have been scammed after closing an agreement with an equipment supplier in the interior of São Paulo.
The man from Paraíba, who sought the Canal Solar and asked for help with the publication of a report, he claims that much of the equipment never arrived and states that whenever he ed the owner of the establishment he received the most varied excuses.
According to him, phrases like “Delivery was delayed, but it will arrive. You can rest assured, Doctor Almir!” ou “Today, I'm in another city solving some problems, but as soon as I can, I'll check on that for you” they would have started be recurrent.
“I closed the deal with this company and everything was going very well. They even sent part of the structures in advance and I thought: I will receive all the rest of the equipment soon”, commented the businessman, who claims to have paid for the products in December last year, hoping to receive them within two months.
“In January, the company owner sent me an invoice saying that the rest of the material had been shipped and would arrive in February. I thought, perfect! But I started to find things strange when he never properly screened the equipment,” he said.
Without the supposed response, Silva states that he started calling the owner of the establishment in search of information. “He said I could rest assured, because the equipment would arrive. He also gave me the details of the driver who was going to deliver my cargo.”
Silva said that, however, when he called this , he received a surprise: the driver, according to him, was not transporting his order and the equipment did not arrive in time to deliver his demands agreed in the contract. “I started to lose money and credibility with my clients,” he commented..
Out of fear, Silva claimed that he called the owner again to charge him for the delivery. The supplier then gave a new excuse, claiming that an unexpected problem had occurred in logistics, but that everything would be delivered in the first week of March.
“He gave me another phone number from another driver who was carrying the load. I called, but the driver always had his cell phone turned off. I called the owner and he repeated the same thing: wait until it arrives”, said Silva.
When March arrived and the equipment, according to Silva, had not been sent, he decided to call the owner again to ask for a refund. The supplier, according to him, even agreed to make a refund, but said he could only return a third of the amount paid. “I was furious and immediately went to court,” concluded Silva, who said that he is still waiting for the money to be refunded.
Necessary care
Check below the main recommendations that customers and every solar energy company need to put into practice before closing a contract. The list was produced by Gustavo Tegon, sales specialist and co-founder of the distributor Esfera Solarat the invitation of Canal solar:
Don't sign anything right away: The traps often require you to sign the contract quickly so the client doesn't have time to think. Don't sign anything beforehand and look for information about the company first. Reputable companies not only answer all doubts, but also respect each client's time.
Don't start anything without a contract: While some scammers push for the g of a contract immediately, others seek to start work without g any legal documents. Don't let that happen. A serial company will insist on a contract and will help you understand what it means for you.
Also, don't confuse a free estimate – which many good solar companies provide – with an actual contract. Some shady companies give you an estimate and act like that's their contract. It is not. Any contract you sign should be easy to understand.
Get references about the supplier: never forget to check the company's history. How long has it been on the market? Does it have a physical address and not just a website or phone number? Talk to customers who had a relationship with this supplier. Sometimes a simple online search will yield valuable information.
Don't just look at the price offered: One of the main baits of scams applied by fraudulent companies (in all economic segments) is precisely to offer a very attractive price to their customers.
In some cases, criminals use the tactic of signaling that the offer will end shortly, which ends up persuading the customer to make the purchase quickly. The objective of this type of scam is to prevent the consumer from having time to reflect and carry out a security check that could reveal that it is a scam.
Regardless, there is only one rule: too cheap a price? Be suspicious and try to do some research into the history of the company and its sales. There are several websites on the internet where you can find comments about the credibility of this company. It doesn't hurt to search.
Understand the company’s positioning in the sector: Market positioning is a very valuable tool for any company. After all, it is what defines the way a company presents itself to the public.
A serious company, when creating a positioning strategy, will seek to make it clear to everyone what segment it serves and what its differentiators are. If this is not clear, be suspicious. It won't necessarily be a scam, but it's best to be careful and look for other companies.
Get to know the company’s leaders: Who is the founder, president, co-founder or manager of this company? What is the history of these professionals in the solar energy sector? Do they have credibility? When we do a quick query on Google, are their names highly rated or do they not even appear on the search platform? These are questions that need to be answered, because as our parents used to say when we were little: you should never trust strangers.
