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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:
Megrim · 14/03/2014 18:15

There may well be a PayPal sending limit unless you have verified your account. It's part of the money laundering regs.

Bearbehind · 14/03/2014 18:21

If that is the case I'd have thought the OP has some redress through Ebay/ Paypal. Surely they can't refuse to allow you to use their protected service for high amounts without offering an alternative/ highlighting the dangers if sending cash directly?

From the OP's wording I fear her DH may just have chosen to pay by bank transfer because of the amount and not actually tried to use Paypal.

CogitoErgoSometimes · 14/03/2014 18:34

They already do highlight the dangers in their 'How to Pay on E-Bay' section

Cheques, postal orders, and bank wire transfers aren't allowed for most eBay purchases. But you can use these payment methods for items you collect in person. For details, see the accepted payments policy.

The OP I'm afraid, is not in a strong position.

Bearbehind · 14/03/2014 18:40

If it's true that you can be blocked from paying via PayPal due to money laundering limits- what alternative does a buyer have?

Shonajoy · 14/03/2014 18:46

Megrim I phoned the bank explained I'd not got item, bank credited my account, within the hour, as I'd paid via visa debit. It appeared on my statement as from my bank, PayPal weren't mentioned.

It's too confusing for me!

Bearbehind · 14/03/2014 18:47

shona, credit and debit cards have protection which doesn't apply to direct bank transfers.

TalkinPeace · 14/03/2014 18:47

If it's true that you can be blocked from paying via PayPal due to money laundering limits
but its not

Bearbehind · 14/03/2014 18:48

Ah, fair enough talk!

Megrim · 14/03/2014 18:54

TiP you still have to verify your PayPal account to lift spending / receiving limits by linking a bank account to it.

TalkinPeace · 14/03/2014 19:14

indeed, but I did that about six years ago .... and once done its there

Original poster
drnoitall · 14/03/2014 19:18

Thanks everyone.
PayPal has to be verified for large amounts which can take 5 days. Seller put on pressure, has other bidders etc.
what makes me so annoyed is only finding out afterwards. I know PayPal keeps money pending for 30 days to reverse if necessary. Seems dh didn't.

OP posts:
Bearbehind · 14/03/2014 19:18

Ok, so if you haven't already done that and you do make a large purchase, what are your options?

Megrim · 14/03/2014 19:19

True, although PP managed to unlink my bank account the first time I tried to transfer money back to my bank account, and we don't know if OP had verified their account.

TeaAndALemonTart · 14/03/2014 19:25

Oh fuck, what a nuisance. I'm glad you're being nice to him and not arguing about it. We all make mistakes.

paxtecum · 14/03/2014 19:26

I know someone that this happened to.

The bank that you paid the money into should freeze that account, otherwise they are aiding criminal activity.
The bank should know who the account belongs to and if they don't then they are again aiding criminal activity.

My friend did get their money back, but only after issuing a court summons to the receiving bank.

Original poster
drnoitall · 14/03/2014 19:30

Yes tea.
It's a fucking shitty mess.
You know when you think of fuck, you haven't??? Have you???
Bleating on wont help, but bloody hell I never thought he'd fall for this.
Dh Paid by bt because he is too trusting, and hearing the story unfold makes me angry because it could have easily been avoided.
Anyways, waiting for the non existent item to not turn up tomorrow so I can phone trading standards again.
Apparently they can contact ebay for seller details then.
It's all paper trails and no real action in reality.
The only way the money could have been stopped was by the bank and they didn't do it in time.
Furthermore the phone number the seller gave is for "adult fun" so it's probably an organised group that took the money out the instant it arrived.
Bloody hell what a fuck up.

OP posts:
Original poster
drnoitall · 14/03/2014 19:32

Thanks pax.
I will look into that.
Dh told both the banks. So only they know if the money was withdrawn before or after he rang them to say it was a scam.

OP posts:
Bearbehind · 14/03/2014 19:35

Christ OP, you are a much better person than me, I would have gone ballistic.

I know it wouldn't have helped the situation but it would have made me feel better.

It really is insane that he thought it was a good idea. Did he really not think that there was a reason why Paypal need to verify accounts for high values?

Good luck with Trading Standards.

Megrim · 14/03/2014 19:46

OP, scammers make everything sound so plausible - they will be experts at this, and they take advantage of other people's honest nature. I'm sure your DH is not the first, nor will be the last.

iwasyoungonce · 14/03/2014 20:50

OP, if you feel that the Bank didn't act quickly enough, or were not helpful enough, then do complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

They will first give your Bank the opportunity to resolve your complaint. But after that, if you remain unhappy they will investigate the mater thoroughly.

If they find that your Bank could have helped you if it had acted more quickly, then it will order them to pay you back the money themselves.

It is worth a try. And it won't cost you anything.

Ilovefluffysheep · 14/03/2014 21:02

This happens more than you think, it's a common scam. I am a dc and work in the fraud department, so hopefully can give you some advice.

You need to report this to action fraud, not the police. Police will now only take the report if you are elderly/vulnerable, or there is a confirmed suspect in that force area.

Your report at action fraud gets sent to the NFIB (national fraud intelligence bureau). They will do the checks, including finding out who the bank account belongs to. The crime will then be sent to the force where the suspect lives (this is different to all other crimes which are dealt with according to where victim lives).

Just because there is a bank account doesn't mean it's been opened legitimately unfortunately. You'd be surprised how easy it is to open fake accounts.

eBay have no duty to help - you have gone outside their guidelines by not using PayPal. They will provide details to law enforcement agencies, but again, fairly easy to use dodgy details.

Sorry it's not better news - just trying to prepare you for the worst.

Pumpkinpositive · 14/03/2014 21:13

Christ, OP, you're a bloody saint. I'd have wrung his neck. Fingers crossed all goes well. Thanks

Twattyzombiebollocks · 14/03/2014 21:55

Op, I'm so sorry that some scumbag has stolen £5k of your hard earned cash.
For future reference, there's no reason these days to not use paypal for payments. Cash can be transferred from paypal to
Bank account almost immediately. Paypal fees are a pain but as a seller you have to factor it into your selling price just like any other overhead.
If someone is asking for bank transfer on eBay for an item that's going to be delivered then there's a good reason why. Usually because their paypal account has been disabled or frozen for scamming, or because they want to scam you. If you sell on eBay a paypal account is required, you can't list without it.

unlucky83 · 14/03/2014 22:16

I'm surprised the bank can't stop it ...
My brother sent me a cheque for £10k, banked it, it appeared to be in my account for 3 or so days -shown as available funds - I was just about to move it out of my current account.
Went to the cash point and it had gone - I nearly had a heart attack, thought my account had been hacked etc. Apparently my brother had forgotten that account has his 'old style' signature on it..it had gone through then his bank had decided it was suspicious and checked the signature and took it back...
(I was v. surprised by this - apparently banks do only double check
signatures on random nos of cheques not every one!)

NurseyWursey · 14/03/2014 22:34

Just another thing to add, there's a lot of 'eBay' emails going round at the minute saying that there's problems with the account or transaction and to click a link to log in. It's fake and takes you to a fake log in page to phish your details. They look very real too!