A technology company in Gozo is the latest target of a Facebook page that imitates genuine businesses to scam customers.

The owner of Infotech Enterprises Ltd said he was “alarmed” after a customer came to his shop asking to collect a phone he claimed to have ordered online. Another called asking about delivery for a games console they had paid a deposit for.

The shop has not sold consumer electronics for around a decade, now dealing in IT and security systems.

Speaking to Times of Malta, the owner, who asked not to be named, said he was worried people would pay money for items they would not receive, adding: “I don’t want to be accused of anything.”

The ‘Infotech Gozo’ page imitates a genuine business.

When he investigated the incidents, he discovered a Facebook page operating under the name ‘Infotech Gozo’ sporting almost identical branding to his genuine business.

It is the same page involved in another scam Times of Malta exposed six months ago, however the details have been changed to imitate Attard’s business.

In June, the owner of San Ġwann-based audio shop FutureTech Pro contacted the police after receiving scores of complaints from people scammed by a Facebook page with a similar name to his business.

The ‘Future Tech’ page responsible for the complaints was traced to a defunct technology shop in Gozo by the same name and was used to scam victims out of payments for games consoles, smart watches and other items that never turned up.

Screenshots of recent messages between customers and the page show its operators providing prices of items and asking for deposits while supplying Revolut account details.

The same page was used to imitate San Ġwann company ‘Future Tech’.

Highlighting the dangers posed to customers, Infotech’s owner said: “We believe this issue deserves further attention to prevent more people from falling victim to this scam and to protect the reputation of legitimate businesses like ours.”

The ‘Infotech Gozo’ page was briefly shut down by Meta – the parent company of Facebook – earlier this week but by the next day, the page reappeared sporting the same name and branding.

Infotech’s owner said his business would continue to fight for the page to be removed from Facebook.

He initially did not report it to the police, describing it as “useless” because of the previous report. However, he plans to alert the cybercrime unit if it “pops up again”.

Last year, consumers in Malta lost some €12.5 million to scams and online fraud, an increase of 50 per cent over the €8.5 million lost in 2022, according to police figures. In February, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri tabled figures in parliament showing that the number of online scams reported to the police had more than doubled over the same two years, reaching just over 2,500 reports in 2023.