A FAMILY business has been targeted by online scammers impersonating the firm for the second time this year.

McLaren’s Nurseries Ltd, which grows and supplies plants at a 50-acre site near Uplawmoor, fell victim to the fraudsters after launching a contest on its Facebook page last week.

Up for grabs is a £50 voucher and a hamper for Father’s Day, worth £100, which includes food, beverages and gardening equipment, with the winner to be announced tomorrow.

But, just hours after the giveaway was launched, crooks created a fake profile page on the social media site which copied many of the posts from McLaren’s business page.

Those behind the scam then began sending friend requests to competition entrants, fraudulently informing them they had won before asking them to click the link and hand over their details.

Matt McGowan, McLaren’s sales and marketing advisor, told the Barrhead News: “It’s been an absolute shambles and so frustrating.

“We put the post up about the competition in the morning and, by about 4pm, we started getting phone calls, emails and messages from concerned customers asking if it was genuine or letting us know it was suspicious.

“The fake page is listed as McLarens Nurseriesltd, with no space between nurseries and Ltd. If you get this message, don’t respond to it.

“We wouldn’t contact customers that way because a business page can’t send out friend requests but not everyone would know that.”

Unfortunately, this is not the first time this has happened to the company.

A fake profile with the same name was created and targeted people in a similar fashion following the launch of a Mother’s Day competition earlier this year.

After reporting that page to Facebook, it was quickly pulled from the site but Matt is finding it tough to get the social media giant to delete this latest profile.

“I’ve been regularly reporting it but I’m just getting nowhere,” he added. “They have said they’re not taking it down because it doesn’t go against their policies and procedures, despite the fact it is pretending to be a business it is not.

“I hope our customers stick by us.”

Police in East Renfrewshire have seen a rise in scams during the Covid pandemic, with officers frequently sharing advice on social media about how to avoid being conned.

For useful tips, visit here.

Facebook were contacted for comment.