Where's the scam?
Discussion
I know it's a scam, I'm just not sure how it would actually work out in practice? Any ideas?
Selling a kid's Halloween dress (she changed her mind!) and can't return it so popped it on FB Marketplace for a tenner. Not a lot of money but it pays for a few litres of E10...
Out of the blue, get a reply from a few hundred miles away - no way they'd even get it in time for Halloween even if they did genuinely send cash. Surely they wouldn't try the "Oops, sent you a cheque for £500 for a £10 item, please send it and the balance" routine?
Scammer saidOk I am from Cardiff and I buy However, I will make your payment via UPS EXPRESS delivery in an envelope as soon as you receive the money, I will send TNT to your home for the collection
Selling a kid's Halloween dress (she changed her mind!) and can't return it so popped it on FB Marketplace for a tenner. Not a lot of money but it pays for a few litres of E10...
Out of the blue, get a reply from a few hundred miles away - no way they'd even get it in time for Halloween even if they did genuinely send cash. Surely they wouldn't try the "Oops, sent you a cheque for £500 for a £10 item, please send it and the balance" routine?
Scammer saidOk I am from Cardiff and I buy However, I will make your payment via UPS EXPRESS delivery in an envelope as soon as you receive the money, I will send TNT to your home for the collection
Well known scam on local marketplaces, one tried it with me saying they would send UPS with the cash etc, i didn't let on that i worked for UPS so stringed them along. They sent a link that they wanted to to use to pay insurance, link was obviously a dodgy payment site. Funny thing was they sent me another message an hour later starting the conversation again so i asked a few more questions
I work in a fraud team and it's surprising how many people fall for scams such as receiving message on instagram for a 'financial investment opportunity' where they can turn their £500 into ££thousands££. They fall for it!!
A big one at the moment is diversion fraud where someones email is hacked who are in the process of a buying a house, the emails between the solicitor and buyer get hacked and the scammers send a fake email that looks just like the solicitors email instructing them to send their £240,000 to the solicitors bank account. The house buyer send the money and don't realise its a scam until the genuine solicitor chases them for the payment.
That kind scam devastates the victims life as the bank never refund their money as its not their fault. Imagine loosing that amount of money, it would ruin you. Another big one is romance fraud, amazing how many fall for that one. Sad when it's a vulnerable person who falls for it.
A big one at the moment is diversion fraud where someones email is hacked who are in the process of a buying a house, the emails between the solicitor and buyer get hacked and the scammers send a fake email that looks just like the solicitors email instructing them to send their £240,000 to the solicitors bank account. The house buyer send the money and don't realise its a scam until the genuine solicitor chases them for the payment.
That kind scam devastates the victims life as the bank never refund their money as its not their fault. Imagine loosing that amount of money, it would ruin you. Another big one is romance fraud, amazing how many fall for that one. Sad when it's a vulnerable person who falls for it.
DavePanda said:
Well known scam on local marketplaces, one tried it with me saying they would send UPS with the cash etc, i didn't let on that i worked for UPS so stringed them along. They sent a link that they wanted to to use to pay insurance, link was obviously a dodgy payment site. Funny thing was they sent me another message an hour later starting the conversation again so i asked a few more questions
I had this for a car cover I was selling. Didn't progress it as it was clearly a scam. So what's the scam element? They try to get you to pay for insurance thus have your bank details?LeadFarmer said:
A big one at the moment is diversion fraud where someones email is hacked who are in the process of a buying a house, the emails between the solicitor and buyer get hacked and the scammers send a fake email that looks just like the solicitors email instructing them to send their £240,000 to the solicitors bank account. The house buyer send the money and don't realise its a scam until the genuine solicitor chases them for the payment.
Utter scum. I really don't know how these people can sleep at night! I know of someone done this way for £500k. Utterly ruined. T
s!siovey said:
LeadFarmer said:
A big one at the moment is diversion fraud where someones email is hacked who are in the process of a buying a house, the emails between the solicitor and buyer get hacked and the scammers send a fake email that looks just like the solicitors email instructing them to send their £240,000 to the solicitors bank account. The house buyer send the money and don't realise its a scam until the genuine solicitor chases them for the payment.
Utter scum. I really don't know how these people can sleep at night! I know of someone done this way for £500k. Utterly ruined. Ts!My advice for anyone transferring a decent sum of money is to not respond to any such email request even if it could be genuine, instead visit or phone the recipient and ask if they have sent that email, and confirm their bank account details. For a house purchase, knowing well in advance that you will be having to make a large payment you could obtain this information before any request is made.
Another popular but lower level of scam is the 'Paypal holding account' scam. The seller of say a an iPad agrees a price (Facebook Marketplace etc) and the buyer (scammer) sends them an email that looks like its from Paypal explaining the funds are in a Paypal holding account and will be released when the seller supplies a tracking number. The seller posts the item, sends the tracking details to the buyer and then discover that Paypal hasn't released the money!!!!.
The address given to the seller to post the iPad is a cuckoo address of someone vulnerable. Scammers will have access to this vulnerable persons home and awaits delivery of the item. Or, the address the seller posts to may be a genuine address of someone who is being scammed in a different way, having been been offered an iPhone for an unbelievable price, they send money and await delivery. They get a message from the seller (scammer) saying the wrong item has been posted to them and not to open it but send on to another address and await their iPhone. They send on the unopened iPad and await their iPhone, that never arrives. The audit trail for the iPad's movement becomes impossible to follow.. By this point the scammer has an iPad and payment for an iPhone, and so it goes on....
Edited by LeadFarmer on Sunday 31st October 16:29
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