So, is there a scam

[Quattromaster]

I run a little e-commerce website as a sideline, payment options are PayPal, card or bank transfer.

Had a message earlier in week from a guy wanting details on a £500 item, the 3rd priciest product we sell. I could tell English wasn’t his first language, but sent him the link and some details as requested.

Today, he calls me from the Seychelles , wanting to pay western union, no sorry I said, suggested a few more options, nope, I wanted Bank Transfer, and order must be placed through the website.

He will arrange for courier to collect, as we don’t ship this product overseas.

Fast forward 2 hours and order placed, and over £500 is in my account, he’s now waiting on me letting him know when he can arrange to get it collected.

Here’s a link to the item, incase it matters. https://www.alloypaints.com/kapci-solvent-mini-mix...

So, is this a scam, can they somehow claim the money back out my account, I genuinely didn’t expect them to go through with the sale, I had my suspicions from start, and although polite and helpful, I didn’t go out my way to push for the sale.

[rix]

Check with your bank I would suggest. Is that something unavailable internationally, or maybe a consequence of our cheap £?

[vaud]

What is the person picking the item up going to do with it? Fly back to the Seychelles with it in hand luggage?

[Quattromaster]

rix said:

Check with your bank ?

Plan to call Monday AM, order was placed late this PM, hoped the PH massive may have some ideas,

[robscot]

How is it in your bank? BACS / IBAN etc? Or via a third party Paypal / Stripe etc?

[Quattromaster]

vaud said:

What is the person picking the item up going to do with it? Fly back to the Seychelles with it in hand luggage?

It’s 80+ bottles of solvent paint, funnily enough the shipping companies are not that keen on allowing it on their aircraft, hence why we don’t ship overseas.

Explained all this to him, but he was adamant his courier would collect, late next week, giving me a few days to get it together.

All in all it’s about average suitcase size and weight.

[Quattromaster]

robscot said:

How is it in your bank? BACS / IBAN etc? Or via a third party Paypal / Stripe etc?

BACs

[hmg]

If it’s a BACS transfer pretty sure unless the payment can be traced to the proceeds of fraud/ crime that once it’s in your account it can’t be reclaimed..not your problem once the goods have been collected in person.

If the payment was funded through a card that would be a whole different matter as you could be liable for a chargeback.

I would take some photos of the goods in the packaging along with the invoice and ask the person who collects to sign for the collection..

[ruggedscotty]

Its a scam.

Dont touch and dont refund or you will be out of pocket.

They pay western union by check. and the check bounces. you send them the item they have purchased and then western union pursue you for monies etc...

its on the internet.

many caught out with it, why he is pushing for the item to be picked up... just tell him to cancel with western union and if he is wanting to buy then he needs to comply with YOUR buying procedures.

[Redarress]

How do you pay a website purchase using BACS by a cheque deposited at Wester Union

[E63eeeeee...]

ruggedscotty said:

Its a scam.

Dont touch and dont refund or you will be out of pocket.

They pay western union by check. and the check bounces. you send them the item they have purchased and then western union pursue you for monies etc...

its on the internet.

many caught out with it, why he is pushing for the item to be picked up... just tell him to cancel with western union and if he is wanting to buy then he needs to comply with YOUR buying procedures.

Can you explain how this scam works? It doesn't seem to be mentioned on the WU scams page.

At the moment, the OP has the money and the goods. It's a fairly high risk scam that allows this situation to arise.

Surely, even in the scenario you describe, you would politely tell WU to ps off and pursue the person who gave them a duff cheque instead? I don't see how they'd make it your problem that they got scammed.

[Regy53]

We had somebody last week but somthing from us for 1500 quid. They put in 5500 into the bank and said oh sorry I told
My Mrs to send to somebody else

The money was showing as cleared but it was a cheque …… scam was obvious . Two days later it was gone from my
Account

[Austin_Metro]

All this talk of fraud is quite worrying. I’d suggest you deliver it personally, perhaps spend 2 weeks in the Seychelles, marketing your business (from a lounger, or the pool) and include that as legitimate business expense (proper tax advice available elsewhere!).

[hidetheelephants]

ruggedscotty said:

Its a scam.

Dont touch and dont refund or you will be out of pocket.

They pay western union by check. and the check bounces. you send them the item they have purchased and then western union pursue you for monies etc...

its on the internet.

many caught out with it, why he is pushing for the item to be picked up... just tell him to cancel with western union and if he is wanting to buy then he needs to comply with YOUR buying procedures.

How does that work? If you've got money in your hand how exactly are they going to pursue you and on what grounds? Why would WU be dumb enough to accept cheques as payment?

[Simpo Two]

It reeks of scam I'm afraid. You don't need £500 that badly to take the risk.

I'm not sure how best to get out of it now, but perhaps tell him you can no longer supply the goods for whatever reason - they sprang a leak, there's been a fire, whatever. I expect the £500 will be retrieved/removed in due course without you needing to do anything.

[Quattromaster]

Thanks for all the pointers folks, I’ll sit on it for a few days, see what happens, already told the buyer it will be mid to late next week before item ready to collect, we make these to order so usually takes a day at least.

Will update.

[Jon39]

Quattromaster said:

Thanks for all the pointers folks, I’ll sit on it for a few days, see what happens, already told the buyer it will be mid to late next week before item ready to collect, we make these to order so usually takes a day at least.

Will update.

I have been told that a box containing $billions cash, marked with my name and address, is waiting my collection from Los Angeles Airport. Strange, because displaying my name and address, would enable them to forward it to me. Perhaps just lazy jobsworths.

Anyway, I am not very interested, because I dare not pay-in any cash to NatWest. I don't 'align' with their values, such as their belief about disclosing confidential customer information to third parties, so therefore I would risk having my accounts closed.

Do you have any packages, waiting at US airports for you to collect?

[craig511]

Sounds like some form of courier scam.

[Countdown]

I wonder if the £500 has been sent from an innocent but compromised bank account?

So, when the legitimate owner of the bank account notices/complains to their bank then the transfer gets reversed but your customer has received the goods?

[vaud]

craig511 said:

Sounds like some form of courier scam.

It sounds like a scam for sure. Why on earth would someone from teh Seychelles order such a niche product and then get a courier for a product that can't be air freighted?