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Original poster

To think there must hope. Lost £5,000 ebay scam

161 replies

drnoitall · 14/03/2014 12:11

Ddh bought something on ebay.
Paid bank transfer as alot of money (£5,000)
He received an email from ebay saying account he purchased from had been hacked and listing removed.
Looks increasingly like a scam.
Contacted police fraud department (don't know actual name of it) his bank and recipient bank.
Seller says delivery has been arranged for tomorrow at 9am.
Nothing can be done yet as it could turn up.
But, this is the bad but that has us feeling so miserable and annoyed.
When we put the contact phone number the seller gave into google it was the exact phone number listed on a page for an overseas "adult" service.
I want to cry, I hate seeing my dh so miserable.
Can anyone help with advice, are there some protective rights that we need to know?
This is a very upsetting and a lot of money to us , can our bank demand the money back from the sellers bank? Can ebay do anything?
Thank you in advance, fingers crossed someone can help.

OP posts:
Original poster
drnoitall · 14/03/2014 12:46

Thanks judge . Phoning them now.

OP posts:
Viviennemary · 14/03/2014 12:47

Should have read the thread properly. Sorry. Hope you get your money back.

GossamerHailfilter · 14/03/2014 12:48

Trading standards and get on to the bank every hour.

Daiso · 14/03/2014 12:51

I paid bank transfer of £700 for decoraters for my wedding. They didn't turn up on the day and I was never able to trace them and so I lost my money. The police said there was nothing they could do, the bank did nothing even though an account was being used to obtain money by fraud. I even had wedding insurance but as I couldn't trace the supplier, I couldn't prove that they didn't turn up!
I hope you manage to get your money back but just be prepared that you may not.

diamondlizard · 14/03/2014 12:53

why cant the bank just get it back for the others person bank,has it gone abroad?

TalkinPeace · 14/03/2014 13:00

diamond
electronic transfers are not returnable - otherwise nobody would accept them as payment for bills like utilities and taxes

OP
do you have any emails from the scammers that could highlight their true location in the headers?

did you check the bank details were in a location that tallied with the correspondence before paying the money?

diamondlizard · 14/03/2014 13:02

yeah but taxes and utilities are not scams, well you coudl say they are lol
but they are genuine bills

this is a scam

surely something can be done

they bank need to sort it if not the police

TalkinPeace · 14/03/2014 13:08

the bank would need a police crime number to be able to pull the money back : the small print on electronic transfers is very clear on that.

OP would have to prove that they did not mean to send the money to wherever it has gone.

OP check your emails and the bank details www.findsortcodes.co.uk/

AgaPanthers · 14/03/2014 13:10

What did he buy?

Is it a UK bank?

firesidechat · 14/03/2014 13:11

Ask your bank to claw it back. They might be able to do it if its within the 3-5 working days bacs timeframe

This almost certainly won't work with a bank transfer. The account holder would have to agree to return and if it's a scam they won't do that.

I doubt that ebay will help much. They insist that buyers use a safe payment method like Paypal and bank transfer is a definite no no.

Sorry OP.

TalkinPeace · 14/03/2014 13:14

its within the 3-5 working days bacs timeframe

most electronic transfers from personal accounts go by FPS now where the transferred funds are instantly available to the other party.

OP
do you have any geeky friends who could decode the email headers for you?

FrequentFlyerRandomDent · 14/03/2014 13:14

Oh dear. I am very sorry. It sucks. Flowers

diamondlizard · 14/03/2014 13:16

get a crime number then

diamondlizard · 14/03/2014 13:17

what was it he bought anyway?

is there any hope it will turn up tomorow?

firesidechat · 14/03/2014 13:18

Sorry some people have been so tactless

I don't think posters have been tactless. Of course it's horrible when you get scammed and we could all tell the OP what she wants to hear, but those aren't the facts I'm afraid.

Vida · 14/03/2014 13:19

So sorry this has happened to you, how awful.

I wouldn't be resigned to not getting the money back quite yet, and I would be giving my all to put pressure on anyone who can help.

I would definitely start with eBay. Hacked account you say? Well, was it a fault in their system that allowed the hacking? Then surely they bear some responsibility? Presumably you bought from a seller with good feedback and no reason not to trust them? Also bear in mind that 'I lost £5,000 to a dodgy seller on eBay' is the kind of publicity eBay most assuredly don't want...their whole reputation is based on safety. If the hacking is down to their lax procedures I would put maximum pressure on them...

And of course see what the bank can do too.

Good luck!

CoffeeTea103 · 14/03/2014 13:24

eBay covers paypal transactions and clearly states so. Your DH chose to use another method. Knowing what's covered and not, it was rather stupid to take a chance.

Original poster
drnoitall · 14/03/2014 13:24

Yes uk bank and already in touch with both ours and recipient.
Police are not interested.
We were only alerted because ebay sent 4 emails to say the sellers account had been put on hold for security reasons.
Looks like the scam happened when someone hacked an ebay account, I think.

Thanks Talkin - just did that.

OP posts:
wifey6 · 14/03/2014 13:31

Oh crikey OP! How awful for you & your DH!
I hope that the eBay seller/account is able to be traced & it's all able to be resolved & you get your money back.

DoYonisHangLow · 14/03/2014 13:44

Oh you poor things you must be sick with worry Sad

Try not to panic too much till tomorrow morning, there's still a chance it could turn up. If not, I really hope eBay or your bank pulls through for you.

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 14/03/2014 13:45

The police will hopefully take more of an interest if the goods don't turn up because then a crime has been committed. At the moment there is no crime because the goods haven't yet failed to turn up as agreed.

If the goods don't turn up get a crime reference number as soon as possible because at least then if the money is still in an account somewhere you can argue that they are the proceeds of crime.

This should help a bit
www.actionfraud.police.uk/

Puzzledandpissedoff · 14/03/2014 13:47

Never on't assume that the account has been "hacked" by someone unknown to the seller - it's equally likely that they've got a friend to do it as part of the scam

Have you put this up on Facebook, Twitter or whatever? With a company as large as ebay it's unlikely to make a difference - they're too big to care, and will just say "you should have used Paypal" - but if nothing else it might save someone else getting caught ... ??

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 14/03/2014 13:47

www.actionfraud.police.uk/node/252

BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack · 14/03/2014 13:49

Yes, don't panic until the goods don't turn up - as yet nothing untoward has happened.

I bought something through ebay a few years ago (only small item though and always pay via paypal) and ebay notified me that the sellers account had been stopped and asked me to let them know if I didn't get the item. The seller was fine though and my item arrived ok, hopefully yours will too.

It's a bit like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted pointing out what you/your DH did was foolish but just learn a lesson for next time. At least with pay pal or a credit card you have some form of protection and ebay has a thing somewhere of do's and don't including never deal with anyone who say asks for money to be paid via western union etc etc.

Hope your item turns up .

normalishdude · 14/03/2014 13:56

....bad luck, OP. These scammers are bastards (if it turns out to be a scam). Believe in karma. I hope you get it resolved.