To go to the police

[Catvsworld]

We had a oven for sale on gumtree it was brand new brought it from the bargain corner but wildest put kitchen was being done couldn't find the repicet as everything was all over the house the oven didn't find so we had to by a new one

Any way we sold the said oven to a lady on gumtree dh did think she looked rough at the time but she has her child with her so no issues she gave us the money and that was that

My kitchen is now complete so I use some of this money only £180 of the £300 to my builder as payment along with money from the bank just got a call from t he builder the money is fake he went to settle up at the yard
He's done a lot of work for us before so I have no reason to not believe him


Oh says we should go to the police I only have a number of this person £350 down :( should we just take it as a loss

[airside]

Report it. They will want to track and recover false notes.

[Dutchess61]

Ask builder to bring back the money and take it to your local police station.

[Catvsworld]

Yes he's going to

I feel like such a wally no wonder why they didn't want help to the car

[LisaRinnasLips]

Gumtree strikes again! Bastards.

[PegsPigs]

Fake money Poor you that really sucks. Too late now but you can get special pens to draw on notes to check they're real. I've sold two cars to cash buyers and used it to keep an eye out.

[Catvsworld]

My thing was she was with her kids what type of person is that

[curren]

The bank usually keeps any fake notes

[WonkoTheSane42]

Yes report the fake notes and take them in, but you don't know that this woman passed you them knowingly. They presumably weren't that obvious or you'd have noticed. You paid your builder with them innocently; she could have paid you with them innocently just as easily.

[SpiritedLondon]

You can definitely report it since you can attribute the notes to a specific person. they can check the phone number although I would suspect it's an unregistered pay as you go. Is there likely to be any cctv near you op ? Shops or restaurants, council etc may have cctv that could have captured the car registration. ( this is a long shot). A description of the lady & child will be useful age height build marks scars tattoos etc etc since the police may know someone if that description circulating notes ( particularly with a child with them as its more unusual) or may at least be able to link it to other offences. Car description too. If they have a potential suspect they coulld fingerprint the notes but I doubt they would do this without a named suspect as they are handled so much. I doubt they will put their top detectives on it but they may be interested if they've had a flurry of reports. ( which is all the more reason for people to report these things). I hope that helps.

[herecomethepotatoes]

You'll lose the money if you take it to the police.

You only have his belief that the money's fake. If you disagree then you can spend it and while ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law I think I would...

[Catvsworld]

keep the money um no thanks so some other poor hugger can be out of pocket also it's a crime to tout moody money about

We're not that sort of family

[Ifailed]

report to the police, I'm afraid you'll have to write off the full £300.

[DizzyNorthernBird]

You'll lose the money if you take it to the police

Erm, she's already lost it though?

By keeping the money and knowingly spending it she's committing a crime too.

Report to police.

[ohtheholidays]

Report it to the Police OP and do it now,there was a report a few days ago about counterfit money and the Police had taken down a large circle that was making the money and moving it around,there were quite a few areas of the UK involved they will want to know.

[MartinaJ]

You'll lose the money if you take it to the police

Are you serious? If the money is fake, she has no money anyway. The thief has to be prosecuted.

[IfLovingYouIsWrong]

She hasn't lost it. She has the builders word it's fake and I assume he's going to return it to her.

[herecomethepotatoes]

How does she a) know it's fake b) know that it's the same money she gave the builder.

I think people misunderstood when I said "If you disagree then you can spend it". I mean, if she doesn't believe the builder then what is she doing wrong?

[Ameliablue]

I'd accept it as a loss but still go to the police to inform them. They might be able to trace more info by requesting it off gumtree.

[KittenOfWoe]

herecome that's horrible advice.
OP of course you're doing the right thing, report report report.

[RaeSkywalker]

I'd report it OP.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Firstly go to the Royal mint website it has s detailed description of how to tell whether a note is fake. You can then check the notes you have. If they are fake you need to go to the police.

[TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams]

Get the builder to return it and then report it. It sucks but it's a criminal offence to use counterfeit money so don't even consider trying to get rid of it here and there.

[UpsiLondoes]

The builder is the one who is actually out of pocket. He needs to go to the police and report it. You will then get a visit from police and give them the details on how you obtained the fake money.

You paid in good faith and builder accepted it. So he's actually the one who has taken the hit.

[alleypalley]

I believe you are obliged to report it to the police. In fact the builder should have reported it to the police rather than call you. You should definitely hand in the remaining notes to the police.

[AdrenalineFudge]

The problem is that even if you do report it, which you should, you have no way of telling if the buyer was complicit in handing over fraudulent notes. She might very well say that she had no idea unless the police dig deeper and find that she's part of a ring that does this sort of thing. Gumtree is rife with charlatans but don't let this put you off. Tbh it could have been anyone one of us - it certainly wouldn't have occurred to me that someone could be dealing in fake notes.