BERLIN

In search for cheap alternatives due to the energy crisis, more and more Germans are falling victim to fraudulent offers for cheap firewood on the internet.

The so-called "fake stores" can be found on Facebook Marketplace, among other places, according to the media reports. Interested parties are supposed to contact the "sellers" via WhatsApp in order to place their orders.

However, entire websites of reputable timber suppliers are apparently also being hacked.

A German entrepreneur confirmed to German public television ARD that her official website had suddenly landed on another platform. The hacker had simply entered his own account number.

"We're talking about millions being ripped off there," the German Federal Association of Firewood Trade and Production told public TV station SWR.

Increase in wood thefts

In addition to the dubious offers on the internet, wood theft in the forests is also on the rise in Germany.

The trend toward wood theft is also a result of increased prices, the forest owners' association AGDW told the internet portal Agrarheute.de. "The higher the price of wood, the greater the theft rate."

Large operations reckoned with an order of magnitude around 0.5% to 2% of the annual harvest, said association spokesman Jurgen Gaulke.

The damage now amounts to several million euros annually throughout Germany.

That is why more and more companies are now using GPS trackers. This is to catch timber thieves in the act. If a log is moved, the tracker triggers an alarm for the owner, and the route taken by the thief can be tracked precisely.