Urgh. Fallen for a scam

[BingeOnChocolate]

Yep. I know I know, Facebook market place is full of scammers and I should definitely know better but I was sucked up in thinking I was finally going to get my hands on a dyson airwrap complete. I've been wanting one for ages but every time I go to buy it, it's out of stock so resorted to second hand.

Scammer said they moved due to studies, which seemed reasonable as I checked the profile, and said they would post today recorded delivery if I wanted to bank transfer. Stupidly after even discussing with DP at the possibility of a scam I transferred the funds apparently to their 'dad' as 'she' had a new phone and didn't have her banking app set up yet. My banking app confirmed the name was a complete match which made me feel reassured and I did click I was buying online goods - hopefully that will help with any recall should funds remain. The scammer did send a photo of the parcel showing my address whilst in the post office but when asked for a tracking reference refused to provide one.

I resorted to asking a friend to message to see if it's available from their account. Low and behold, it apparently still is and they encountered the same spill I did

However, I have managed to locate the toe rags actual Facebook given their name is unusual as per the banking transfer. They are 17 and posted photos of mummy and daddy's car complete with number plates and subsequently found their mum's Facebook as a result of them commenting on the photo. Again, lots of public information including them holding a senior job in the NHS....

I have already reported to action fraud and my bank but the likelihood of having my money back is zilch. I'm half tempted to message the mum and ask if her child X has bank account ABC then I suggest they make arrangements to return the funds but equally don't want to get into a tit for tat. I know it's definitely them though as the sort code of the bank matches their Facebook location and google says it's a little village.

somewhat pointless thread so I can vent at how stupid and naive I was for a bloody hair styler.

Lesson firmly learnt and I'll just need to be quicker when the in stock emails land next time

[PurpleFlower1983]

I hope you get your money back OP! Just to add, I managed to get the Airwrap with no issues by customising it, I changed one of the normal brushes for the 20cm barrels which suited me actually and got it immediately from Dyson.

[Freeloadingtosser]

Well done on contacting the mum! Don't alert the kid though, if they live together, she might have access to her mum's account and get in first and delete your message.

[PileOfBooks]

Shameless placemarking...

I would want to contact the police . But do they follow these things up?

Also just googled airwrap...

[Lizzy1980]

Excellent detective work, I honestly wouldn’t know where to start.
I really hope this gets resolved for you one way or another. It’s a horrible feeling knowing you’ve been ripped off. Let’s hope the Mother is a decent sort that will help you and not one of these idiots that will be on her kids side no matter what they’ve done

[PileOfBooks]

I now want an airwrap for the smoothing brush... way out of my budget but wow!

[garlictwist]

Also pacemarking. I fell for a scam too recently and gave away all my personal details to what I thought was the Royal Mail. Felt like such a Wally.

[TarpaulinEyes]

If the Mum doesn't respond or is unhelpful you've got her workplace details. Why not email her there. Added humiliation of it going through workplace server and possibly IT seeing it. I would involve the police, hopefully they will be interested and able to act on it.

[Mammyloveswine]

Mum might not see it if it's in "other messages".

Definitely invested in this though!

[FuchMyLife]

It might have gone into her "other" folder in Facebook messenger so unless she checks it she might never get to see the message (which is a great deterrent for randoms harassing you but no so much when it's a legitimate message)

If you don't get a reply in a few days might be worth commenting on a post/photo that you've messaged her to get her attention

[MyOtherProfile]

You may feel dumb for letting yourself get scammed but I'm so impressed by your sleuthing skills!

[Moonopoly]

If the money went to the ‘Dad’ then surely the parents are in on it? If it was quite a bit of
money being sent repeatedly (if she’s ‘sold’
it several times) then most parents would have questioned at that point?

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

I suspect the FB account has been hacked and you're not really dealing with the real culprit. It seems an unlikely thing for a 17 year old to dream up, don't you think? Particularly involving a piece of domestic equipment!

DFIL had his old FB account hacked and recently he was apparently selling secondhand buggies (he most certainly wasn't!).

[MondeoFan]

I'm wondering if the money that got sent to "dad" got sent to a boyfriend or a person that's egging her on to do it. I can't imagine it's a small amount of money

[Newmum110]

I would think this girls account has been cloned, very easy to do so I would just be very careful as you don't want to go accusing anyone incorrectly. I would contact police & ask them for advice.

[Newmum110]

Ps got my airwrap direct from Dyson after waiting for months for them to come available, worth every penny.

[lannistunut]

I think I'd go to the police as you (think you) know who did it.

[Drinkyourweaklemondrink]

I had an air wrap and sadly it was awful I had to get a refund. I think mine had issues as there was a burning smell and zero curl
I think mine was part of the very first batch

[BingeOnChocolate]

Still hasn't been read but I'll give her until tonight to check the other folder part. My Facebook app gives me a notification saying I've a message in requests so she hopefully will have the same.

I'm not convinced that their Facebook was hacked as such and here's why.

So there was Facebook Account A which is what was advertising the airwrap, complete with pictures and a receipt on my local market place. Had intentions of collecting but when asked for the address, with was 4 hours away to which they stated they've moved to study. Postcode given does have a university nearby - I checked this during the messaging conversation so didn't find it too unreasonable. The bank account details given, complete with middle name, is that of the Mum I've messaged. My banking app confirmed the account was a match including use of the middle name so I got sucked up into the fib it was 'Dads' account because of a new phone issue.

The bank account name though is extremely unusual plus with the middle name which again is unusual then narrowing the search to the county of the sort code, mum and childs account appeared. She's posted photos referring to child in full name capacity so bank account used for receiving funds is definitely her child.

I guess time will tell either by her accepting and responding back to my message or the police following up on everything I have as I'm sure car Reg plates will give them an address so they can visit & see if child is part of scam or if child has had a case of stolen identity/been a money mule.

I'm not bothered into the excuse given to which it is I just want at least some of my money back if possible because I feel utterly stupid

[Ljc1985]

My Facebook app also gives me notifications so fingers crossed she reads your message or I bet the air wrap turns up

[icelollycraving]

Invested in this. The mum may well be in on it if the money went into her account.

[LastToBePicked]

Good luck OP!

You’ve done me a service as I wasn’t aware how these kind of scams worked. I nearly bought something similar via FB marketplace but decided i didn’t really need it. In hindsight there were red flags on the listing and I’d most likely have been scammed if I tried to buy it.

[MissCruellaDeVil]

I get notifications for message requests, so hopefully she will be the same, good luck OP!

[stairgates]

Your detective skills are excellent Op! I wouldn't have known where to start. Good luck :)

[CoralBells]

You'll probably get the airwrap now they know you're onto them.

[Horseradishsauce]

About 5 years ago, I used to pay for one of my children's clubs via BACS bank transfer. Always to the same account, similar amount but sometimes more/less depending on if it was a 4 or 5 week month/less sessions due to school hols. I couldn't add the dance studio as a payee on my mobile banking app, only on the banks website, but I'd not got a round to it.

I'd been paying the same account for over a year, when one month I accidentally switched two of the digits round on the account number - this was before the system checked the name matched the account I was sending it to. I only knew when a week later I got a bill with a late charge because they'd not received it. I contacted the bank in a panic - they said they would liaise with the other bank the money was sent to - I sent them my invoice and they could see all the previous transactions on a monthly basis for a similar amount which proved it was an error rather than I'd sent someone money then trying to get it back. They said the other side would have something like 30 days to contest it, but they didn't and the money was sent back to me. I do wonder if they noticed they had money from an unknown source but didn't know how to return it (as obviously my bank details weren't sent, just my name) or if they'd not noticed. It's definitely worth pursuing your bank to see if they can help because they were surprisingly really helpful to me even though it was my fault!

I wonder if the parent has received the message but not accepted it/replied yet as they're going ape shit at speaking to their daughter to get their side of the story first. Good luck!