The prevalence of fakes in any market is no laughing matter: from medicines which cause illness, through to dangerous OEM parts. For those who knowingly buy fakes or those who are fooled into it, there can be troubling consequences.

Unfortunately, we have been made aware of inspection reports, especially in the pre-purchase sector, that are crude and poorly constructed copies of Idwal reports, even highlighting a fake Idwal Grade and littered with basic technical errors.

In some cases we have seen, the fake reports have been constructed from our own reports done several years ago. In one, the report looked very similar to the original but had the Notable Items pages removed, the term “Fair” changed to “Average”, and the “Onboard Management” section deleted completely. The original Idwal Grade was blurred out and edited over and included text changes in the summary.

So, someone got hold of Photoshop (and probably a hooky version at that), and, suddenly, in their minds, the vessel that was struggling suddenly has an Idwal Grade of 79 and worth a whole lot more into the process. If only life were that simple…

The fake Idwal reports doing the rounds may look reasonably legitimate - well some do, others look like they have done a few rounds with Microsoft Paint...and lost. They are not worth anything though. They are not worth the time, effort or bandwidth to upload them. They are a pretence, an attempt to dupe buyers, brokers and the owners themselves.

By pretending that a vessel is better than we have found it to be, is, at best naïve; the facts do not change, regardless of the email sent and the dodgy pdf attached. Only legitimate, assured and properly issued Idwal reports carry any weight.

So, the message is clear. Make sure you only use proper reports. Here are some authenticity features to look out for, and if you are in any doubt at all, our team will be able to confirm the validity for you. Please do ask us.

Idwal reports – authenticity features:

• Each report stamped with the name/company name of the authorised recipient of that report in multiple places across the report
• Security ID added to each instance of a report
• Date and time of regeneration added to each instance of the report
• QR code and links to the Idwal customer portal feature in the reports, making it clear to authorised recipients that more inspection assets are available online. Unauthorised recipients will not be able to access the Idwal customer portal.

Don't run the risk of being tricked, duped and fooled: your Rolax will stop, your Kelvin Cleins will chafe, and you won't get round the block in your Nikkes. Same for fake Idwal reports - they are useless and will not help you. Remember to ask us if you are unsure!