Have I been involved in fraud ?!

[cakeslenon6]

Hey everyone, I need some advice because I’m panicking right now.

I received a call from a friend I trust who said their account wasn’t working and they needed to make a payment for something. They asked if someone could send money to my account and then I forward it to my Revolut account so they could complete a payment through a Moonpig page. I agreed and didn’t really think anything of it at the time.

I received a transfer of £1,306 and followed their instructions. A few hours later, I tried to send the money on, but my account was suddenly restricted.

I checked my banking messages and they’re now asking for additional information about where the money came from, whether I know the person, and to provide any supporting evidence.

I’ve responded explaining what my friend told me and I’ve also sent a screenshot of the Moonpig request they mentioned. However, the conversation originally happened over the phone, so I don’t have any text messages or written proof of them asking me to do this.

I’m now really worried because I feel like I may have unknowingly been involved in fraud, and I don’t know what this means for me or what I should do next.

I have a holiday coming up next month and I’ve never experienced this before will the police get involved or would I have my account closed down what’s going to happen ?!

Let me be clear because maybe I’m rushing … my friend called me and said if their friend could send money to me because their account wasn’t working and because I have revolut he can request a pay from his online bank moon pay so I said yes okay that’s fine

the bank allowed the transaction to come in when I sent the money to my revolut bank and my friend did the moon pay thing a few hours later that’s when they restricted my account asking questions about the transaction

Unfortunately it does sound a lot like money laundering, though obviously unintentional on your part! If I were you I'd message the friend quickly and just say along the lines of the bank being slow and just re-ask what they wanted you to do, just so you have it in writing. You may well need it as evidence if it is dodgy.

It also could be a scam that the bank has stepped in to protect you from, you hear about them when you get sent a chunk of money, send it on to elsewhere and then the person who sent it to you claims it back from the bank so you're out of pocket. Hopefully a call to the bank tomorrow will clear things up

Sorry to have to say this, but you have been extremely gullible and foolish to have fallen for this stunt.

Never ever do anything like this ever again. Never.

Oh come off it 🤣 Are you her dad or something.

Yeah, I genuinely can’t see how you fell for this one either. It’s got scam written all over it.

What made you think it was legit? Is this a good friend who knows you inside out and who you’ve known for years or some casual acquaintance??

I work for a bank and I see this in my job every day.

In your case it sounds like money laundering where you’ve received money and have passed it on so the trail is harder to follow.

But it doesn’t necessarily have to be. It’s possible that if someone in the financial chain is conducting fraudulent business then their account being flagged means that all accounts they come into contact with are as well.

And if the transaction is proven to be fraudulent then your account will almost certainly be closed which in turn will affect your credit rating and your ability to open an account elsewhere.

I’ve seen customers who have had accounts closed across the board and are unable to get a bank account.

And for anyone who says that £1100 is a small amount, I’ve seen accounts closed over a £50 credit.

And one of the biggest contributors in my experience is payments coming from vinted buyers. So beware.

@DogAnxietya good friend we grew up together that’s why I trusted him I didn’t know honestly I really didn’t I’m so sad right now I’ve been in tears knowing that I helped someone be without money right now I hate this

Fraudsters and other scammers tend to understand banking processes inside out - often having plants inside institutions.
Folks let down their guard when money comes into their account but the payment can be illusory, being reversed after the victim has paid it on.
I would urge anyone to avoid helping a friend if it involves moving money or even just giving your banking details away.

What do you mean about payments coming from Vinted buyers? The buyers’ payments go to Vinted, and money is then paid out to sellers directly from Vinted.

You have been a victim of fraud and so possibly has your friend. But your bank picked it up so don't worry.

Obviously none of us have any way of knowing but it’s not out of the question that his voice was cloned. Have you actually contacted him yourself?

Did you phone your friend to check was him?

@FriendshipDynamic but what if the person didn’t know what what happening I don’t want to get in trouble for this is there any way you can advice me so the bank knows I’m willing to give any information and I’m not involved with this at all I have a holiday coming up I can’t deal with this right now will this affect me travelling as this is serious

If you think this is fraud/money laundering do not speak to your friend and tip them off about that eapecially after making a post on here asking if it could be.

speak to your bank & then if necessary speak to the police

So what happens is the seller sells something on vinted and someone buys it. They pay over the money and then raise a claim with vinted saying the product wasn’t received and the transaction was fraudulent. The money by then has gone to the seller and vinted raise a claim both with the bank and the seller. The seller’s vinted account is then blocked and the bank flags the credits as fraudulent. And then the account is closed.

I don’t know how it works exactly as have never used vinted personally, but I do know that it’s relatively common for payments from vinted to end up being flagged as fraudulent and accounts to be blocked as a result.

I was wondering this, too! Would be interested in general, but also as someone about to start trying selling some things in Vinted!

All you can do is be honest. Tell them what happened. You had a call from a friend asking you to transfer some money to moonpay for him. But to be honest even on the face of it it looks dodgy and you’re going to have a hard time convincing them.

If the credit is proven to be a fraudulent credit then the account will likely be closed.

What do you mean by I’ve been in tears knowing that I helped someone be without money?

It's unlikely the money was fraudulently taken from someone else. It sounds like money laundering

There’s definitely more to it, as Vinted doesn’t pay out until disputes have been settled… and if you miss the deadline to raise a dispute then too bad! But as you say you don’t really know how it works, and I don’t either so we’ll just have to wonder 😊

Edit: I looked it up, apparently it can happen when people either use stolen credit card details to buy on Vinted or claim they didn’t make the payment themselves. Either way the bank gets involved and that’s where the issues start.

Get a grip. I'm not a bloke. And this is no laughing matter.

And no AI voice cloning isn’t that common atm.

It is in terms of getting calls from bogus banks/companies etc, texts from bogus children “hey mum this is my new number because I’ve lost my phone.” But in terms of known people AI isn’t intuitive enough yet to mimic a proper friendship dynamic through voice communication.

I’d say the friend is almost certainly a crook and is knowingly involved in fraud and has now involved the OP because she trusts him and he knows she’d do it for him.

No-one innocently and unknowingly takes money from someone and asks someone else to transfer it to another place for him. Why would he? If he has the ability to transfer money through his account he would have done it himself.

Also presumably this friend already had the OP’s bank details by virtue of being a friend, so she would have known it had come from him.

Why didn't you think this was weird- a payment to Moonpig is generally less than£10- I would have run a mile from a request like that.

Unfortunately some of the reassurance here is probably premature.
It's very unlikely you will encounter any criminal proceedings or be unable to travel.
However it is very likely that the bank will place a CIFAS marker on your credit file. Even if with the best of intentions, you have provided use of your banking facility to enable fraud.
I would prepare for your access to banking and credit to be severely restricted.

If have a gander at the OP's posts, she corrected herself regarding the name, so it's not moonpig.

This type of fraud is calling 'money muling' and it is a criminal offence. If your bank account was restricted before you actually sent anything on then you might be OK: https://www.barclays.co.uk/fraud-and-scams/money-mule-scams/