Scammed and feeling just a little stupid
Discussion
So we brought (thought we had) some ground protection mats from FB market place. Got the chap to send a photo of his driving license and email invoice before we paid but of course the items were not delivered on the date promised and after three days of promised delivery he has stopped responding.
So I feel stupid, OK, have been stupid for not checking further into him (and have since seen the same photos advertising the item on listings from other people so presumably he is just copying other peoples listings. It’s not the end of the world, just under £800 but more annoying and a good lesson for me!
The question is are there any practical steps I can take - contacted my bank who are ‘looking at it’ but given we paid by bank transfer I don’t hold out any hope. Contacted CAB but they just said to send standard email asking to delivery within n days of get a refund.
Reported it to FB and it looks like the listings are now gone so hopefully someone else won’t be as stupid as me. I can report it to ActionFraud but assume I will have to just put it down to one of life’s little lessons.
Any other practical steps short of turning up at his address (assuming the driving license was real I guess is unlikely)? TIA
So I feel stupid, OK, have been stupid for not checking further into him (and have since seen the same photos advertising the item on listings from other people so presumably he is just copying other peoples listings. It’s not the end of the world, just under £800 but more annoying and a good lesson for me!
The question is are there any practical steps I can take - contacted my bank who are ‘looking at it’ but given we paid by bank transfer I don’t hold out any hope. Contacted CAB but they just said to send standard email asking to delivery within n days of get a refund.
Reported it to FB and it looks like the listings are now gone so hopefully someone else won’t be as stupid as me. I can report it to ActionFraud but assume I will have to just put it down to one of life’s little lessons.
Any other practical steps short of turning up at his address (assuming the driving license was real I guess is unlikely)? TIA
I've been ripped off in similar ways in the past. Despite having names, addresses, bank details, etc etc none of the people who claim to be fighting fraud take any interest whatsoever (bank, police, government agencies, post office etc). All talk the talk but when presented with clear evidence and facts absolutely zero action. All a waste of space.
Op report the incident to Action Fraud through their online portal. Im not saying they will do anything with it but they will give you a crime reference you can then take to.your bank for their action.
I was involved in a scam.recently where a plasterer I found through Facebook quoted for work and I paid him a deposit plus fee for materials through bank transfer, thought he was legitimate had a business address, invoices etc, wasn't the cheapest quote either but he could do it quickly he said.
The business address was false it turned out (I went looking for him), he blocked my phone number and blocked me on Facebook.
I reported to Citizens advice who told me to report to Action Fraud which I did then went to the bank and asked them to do a charge back and within 48 hours I got all my money back, I was amazed to be honest I thought the money was gone but I wanted to make life hard for the scammer as I could.
I was involved in a scam.recently where a plasterer I found through Facebook quoted for work and I paid him a deposit plus fee for materials through bank transfer, thought he was legitimate had a business address, invoices etc, wasn't the cheapest quote either but he could do it quickly he said.
The business address was false it turned out (I went looking for him), he blocked my phone number and blocked me on Facebook.
I reported to Citizens advice who told me to report to Action Fraud which I did then went to the bank and asked them to do a charge back and within 48 hours I got all my money back, I was amazed to be honest I thought the money was gone but I wanted to make life hard for the scammer as I could.
I mean, Id tell the police. Its theft, fraud and identity theft all rolled into one.
If you want your money back, I reckon your chances are best if you buy a scratchcard....
Personally I would never recieve or pay with PayPal, for small stuff from a trusted seller (i.e. reviews from other people Ive actually met) Ill do a bank transfer, but anything else Ill just go and see it with my eyes and pay with cash or bank transfer.
Also, I think it would be good for me to point out that for any form of electronic transfer of funds, you should make sure that they are CLEARED before handing over anything. The best way to check this is to move the money from the account it was sent to into another account of yours, that way if the buyer tries to do a chargeback or a refund or anything like that, it wont work. Now the same goes both ways, if you buy something by bank transfer, be patient as it may take a while to come through etc.
If you want your money back, I reckon your chances are best if you buy a scratchcard....
Personally I would never recieve or pay with PayPal, for small stuff from a trusted seller (i.e. reviews from other people Ive actually met) Ill do a bank transfer, but anything else Ill just go and see it with my eyes and pay with cash or bank transfer.
Also, I think it would be good for me to point out that for any form of electronic transfer of funds, you should make sure that they are CLEARED before handing over anything. The best way to check this is to move the money from the account it was sent to into another account of yours, that way if the buyer tries to do a chargeback or a refund or anything like that, it wont work. Now the same goes both ways, if you buy something by bank transfer, be patient as it may take a while to come through etc.
CantDecide said:
So we brought (thought we had) some ground protection mats from FB market place. Got the chap to send a photo of his driving license and email invoice before we paid but of course the items were not delivered on the date promised and after three days of promised delivery he has stopped responding.
So I feel stupid, OK, have been stupid for not checking further into him (and have since seen the same photos advertising the item on listings from other people so presumably he is just copying other peoples listings. It’s not the end of the world, just under £800 but more annoying and a good lesson for me!
The question is are there any practical steps I can take - contacted my bank who are ‘looking at it’ but given we paid by bank transfer I don’t hold out any hope. Contacted CAB but they just said to send standard email asking to delivery within n days of get a refund.
Reported it to FB and it looks like the listings are now gone so hopefully someone else won’t be as stupid as me. I can report it to ActionFraud but assume I will have to just put it down to one of life’s little lessons.
Any other practical steps short of turning up at his address (assuming the driving license was real I guess is unlikely)? TIA
Where did you bring them to?So I feel stupid, OK, have been stupid for not checking further into him (and have since seen the same photos advertising the item on listings from other people so presumably he is just copying other peoples listings. It’s not the end of the world, just under £800 but more annoying and a good lesson for me!
The question is are there any practical steps I can take - contacted my bank who are ‘looking at it’ but given we paid by bank transfer I don’t hold out any hope. Contacted CAB but they just said to send standard email asking to delivery within n days of get a refund.
Reported it to FB and it looks like the listings are now gone so hopefully someone else won’t be as stupid as me. I can report it to ActionFraud but assume I will have to just put it down to one of life’s little lessons.
Any other practical steps short of turning up at his address (assuming the driving license was real I guess is unlikely)? TIA
Went up to my neighbours last week to borrow a tool, when I arrived he said his wife had been on the phone for half hour to microsoft she's bright lady who is business manager. Going through alot of mental health problems with her mother so was off guard. This apparent guy had her doing control R for remote access to PC,searching her PC , Said the PC had been compromised and accessing Porn ...I took phone off her and said I was her son and she was a bit confused. He immediately hung up ! Lucky it was a newish pc with no banking or purchases made online. The guy gave he's name as Microsoft employee with she googled and sure enough a pic of him came up . Not that it was him on the phone.She was about to give him bank details to rectify her problem for £4.95 !!! Which would have cleared her account out !!
Just goes to show if your off guard although you think your savvy it can happen !!
Just goes to show if your off guard although you think your savvy it can happen !!
You say you feel a bit stupid. Don't. You are the victim. These people used sophisticated methods to generate trust. Most of us will trust someone until there's evidence to the contrary. You're just like the rest of us.
I joined the Hextable and District Residents Association one morning when a well-dressed chap approached me as I was digging the front garden of our newly acquired house. Well-spoken, with a good vocabulary, I fell for it. I paid my dues, and took advantage of the extra 3 months as I'd joined towards the end of the year. I was given a receipt and membership number.
I was a police officer, and friends with the local beat officer. He took great pleasure in taking a witness statement from me after the chap was caught after conning a couple of dozen other non-members of the Hextable and District Residents Association.
Learn from it, and you've got something from your expensive crime. I paid around £25 in today's money.
I joined the Hextable and District Residents Association one morning when a well-dressed chap approached me as I was digging the front garden of our newly acquired house. Well-spoken, with a good vocabulary, I fell for it. I paid my dues, and took advantage of the extra 3 months as I'd joined towards the end of the year. I was given a receipt and membership number.
I was a police officer, and friends with the local beat officer. He took great pleasure in taking a witness statement from me after the chap was caught after conning a couple of dozen other non-members of the Hextable and District Residents Association.
Learn from it, and you've got something from your expensive crime. I paid around £25 in today's money.
Scarletpimpofnel said:
I've been ripped off in similar ways in the past. Despite having names, addresses, bank details, etc etc none of the people who claim to be fighting fraud take any interest whatsoever (bank, police, government agencies, post office etc). All talk the talk but when presented with clear evidence and facts absolutely zero action. All a waste of space.
You should not post incorrect information like this. The banks are refunding millions of pounds every year on scams.In fact there are MP's calling for it to stop as in the case of "Hello mum" scams it is nearly always the fault of the account holder.
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