Crane Buyers in Asia Beware of Forged Look-Alike Liebherrs

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A Chinese-made crawler crane disguised as a Liebherr LR1280 was purchased by a customer in India.

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The forged or stolen serial plate.

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Control box for the load indicating system.

October 2, 2008 • This week, Liebherr Cranes has discovered two separate instances in which other makes of used cranes have been passed off as the Liebherr brand. “Buyers need to beware,” says Scott Moreland, U.S. vice president of sales for Liebherr Nenzing Crane Co.

The first counterfeit purchase was made by a crane buyer in India, who thought he had purchased a Liebherr LR1280. It wasn't until after he had paid for and taken delivery of the unit that he discovered he had been deceived. “The machine is actually a Chinese-manufactured crane and included either a forged or stolen serial number plate from an actual LR1280,” said Moreland. A Liebherr technician called to inspect and recommend repairs to the machine had the unfortunate job of telling the buyer the crane was not an LR1280.

The second example was discovered posted on MachineryTrader.com. Again the crane is advertised as an LR1280, but according to Moreland it is obvious from the photos that this is not a genuine Liebherr crane. This model, advertised as a 2003 model and listed at $1.4 million, is also located in China.

“A lot of money will be lost by those who might fall prey to this scam,” says Moreland.