Robbery with a touch of jam

There has been a fraud against the Finnish company — a completely unprecedented theft of a large batch of Marjamaan jam. How was it accomplished? Scammers posed as representatives of ASDA Stores Limited Supermarket company, a supermarket chain in the UK and the largest foreign subsidiary of a US retail giant Walmart.

Scammers proposed to Marjamaan a deal whereby both parties would cooperate to deliver the first batch of Marjamaan  jam (20,000 cans).

As it appears, criminals were posing as real and existing ASDA employees, ensuring that the robbery would turn out professionally.  To prove their identity, scammers forged ASDA documents and stamps. At Marjamaan the purchase order did not raise suspicion since Finnish company is a manufacturer of high quality, reduced sugar jams, and representatives of the company had been negotiating and partnering with major supermarkets in Europe and Asia.

By Christmas, 20,000 cans of premium jam were sent to the address provided by the scammers.

The fraud was revealed unexpectedly when Marjamaan representatives were unable to contact an ASDA employee that was listed as a contact. The company asked for an explanation from ASDA’s legal department. After ASDA learned the details of the case, it confirmed the fraud and initiated a criminal complaint with the British police. ASDA also notified Marjamaan that this was not the first time such a fraud had been attempted. Marjamaan contacted police in Great Britain and Finland, providing all the necessary documents for the case. Moreover, Finnish company kept in touch with the scammers without letting them know that Marjamaan was aware of the fraud, in order to give police more time to apprehend the criminals. Unfortunately, there was no response or reaction from the British police.

Such impunity of criminals frightens companies and prevents the development of the free trade between European countries. Alarmed by what happened, Marjamaan prepared an appeal to the media and government organizations, aiming to warn Scandinavian companies to beware being exposed to similar frauds.

Photo 1: CEO of Marjamaan in company´s Finnish home town

Photo 2: Marjamaan jam products in Christmas Forest Shop in Finland

Additional information:

Anna Nevvonen

CEO

tel. +358404859559

anna.nevvonen@scandicberries.fi 

About the company: Company, established in 2015 specializes to produce premium high berry content products free from preservatives with reduced content of sugar made from forest berries handpicked from Scandinavian forests.