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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Been scammed

301 replies

Fuckfuckbollocks · 19/02/2020 07:30

NC for this. Feel really terrible right now. My husband bought a car through a website that sell on behalf of the actual seller and deliver the car to you. The money is paid to the company and after the car is delivered the funds get released to the seller. The company have a glossy website and claim to do all checks on said car.

Anyway we found this car and checked all the history out and were sent the service history with all the garages names on so we phoned them all and they all had record of this car being serviced with them etc. Multiple reviews online for this company saying how good they are and forums with people saying they've used them and it all seemed fine.
Husband transferred the money and got a confirmation type email with delivery date and time and the car didnt turn up.
I feel so awful for him, he isnt stupid and was weary about it but did so many checks and paid for checks to be done but everything we questioned there was a plausible answer for. Nothing seemed wrong at all. The company even comes up on Google maps with reviews. Apparently all fake

Sorry this isnt an AIBU I just needed to get it out and hopefully warn anyone considering buying a car this way. We feel so stupid and have lost a lot of money.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
Bezalelle · 19/02/2020 07:36

So you didn't see or test drive the car? I'm sorry, but that was incredibly stupid.

caulkheaded · 19/02/2020 07:38

Is this the sort of thing training standards or the financial ombudsman deals with?

Tulipan · 19/02/2020 07:42

Oh no! That's awful.

We bought a car online (in some ways you are better protected for hidden faults) and this was my worst nightmare!

Might be being optimistic here but are you sure it is fake, not just a mix up over delivery?

tanstaafl · 19/02/2020 07:42

When you say ‘transferred the money’, how exactly?

Name the company? Then others won’t fall for the same scam ( and pp might investigate them on your behalf )

FabbyChix · 19/02/2020 07:42

It’s a common scam bet they said your money got held In escrow

ShirleyPhallus · 19/02/2020 07:43

Did you see the car before you committed to buying it?

How did you pay for the car? Bank transfer or credit card?

Original poster
Fuckfuckbollocks · 19/02/2020 07:44

The car was supposed to be delivered yesterday and the company as of yesterday are no longer available on the phone or live chat. Yes it may have been incredibly stupid but it is a very elaborate scam. Like I said you can still find all the reviews online saying how good they are.
I keep hoping it's a mix up but I know it isn't.

OP posts:
TheQueef · 19/02/2020 07:44

Action fraud and the police.
It's a minefield scammers are constantly improving and changing methods.
It really isn't your or DP fault, you were trying to buy a car nothing dodgy please don't blame him.

Original poster
Fuckfuckbollocks · 19/02/2020 07:45

Bank transfer
Company called devsale
Devsale.co.uk
Based in aberdeen

OP posts:
DreemOn · 19/02/2020 07:46

How did you pay?

HopeYouStepOnALego · 19/02/2020 07:46

I feel your pain OP. We tried buying a large item of garden furniture last year (approx £1000) and similarly got scammed by a fake, but very authentic looking, website. We thought we'd lost our money as we'd used a debit card to pay but the bank was very good, initiated a charge back and several weeks later we did get our money back.

How did you make payment for the car? Have you spoken to your bank about help getting your money back?

Original poster
Fuckfuckbollocks · 19/02/2020 07:46

Thanks @TheQueef
I dont blame him I just feel awful for him. He did so many checks and phoned so many garages. The car obviously does exist so it all checked out but they weren't actually selling the car

OP posts:
DreemOn · 19/02/2020 07:48

Sorry cross post

fourandnomore · 19/02/2020 07:48

Contact your bank immediately, their fraud departments are brilliant and may be able to recall the funds. Totally depends on how you paid. This is why all those warnings when you do online transfers. I’m hoping you paid by credit card, as if you did it will be absolutely fine, try not to panic. That pit of your stomach feeling of dread though, I am so sorry this happened to you.

Original poster
Fuckfuckbollocks · 19/02/2020 07:48

Car was supposed to come yesterday. Phoned the bank at midnight but the transfer was done last week so no way to stop it. Honestly he isnt stupid and I looked at it all too. It's a clever scam

OP posts:
FlamingoAndJohn · 19/02/2020 07:48

Have you spoken to them on the phone before?

Assuming this is a scam it seems very elaborate and I would imagine they are scamming a lot of people if they have put this much work into fake reviews etc.

How have you transferred the money?

Name and shame.

HopeYouStepOnALego · 19/02/2020 07:49

Sorry cross post OP. If you've been scammed to pay someone by bank transfer it's known as an authorised push payment. Speak to your bank urgently as they may be able to get you a refund.

fourandnomore · 19/02/2020 07:50

Sorry cross post, bank transfer harder but still worth pursuing. I hope they’ll help, contact them straight away. They’ll want to trace.

queenqueenqueen · 19/02/2020 07:51

I've just done a quick Google of them and nothing comes up?? I mean found website but no reviews etc

Do you live in Scotland?

golightlytoday · 19/02/2020 07:51

The domain for the website was registered on 6th Feb 2020. So had only been running since then.

Where did you find the site as it's quite odd. And not sure where you would have found it for car sales

SnaccidentsHappen · 19/02/2020 07:51

Ask the bank to do a payment in error, it isn't guaranteed but they can try and get the money back. Also report to action fraud.

roseelizabeth · 19/02/2020 07:52

We had this. Saw a car, website all checked out, rang the garages to check history etc. But although they were based 4 hours from us, we still kept insisting on seeing the car first as we were willing to travel. They would email back saying their was no need to see it, if we didn't like it when delivered we could just return it no problem. The car was advertised on autotrader. But it just didn't sit right when we couldn't view the car, and despite their pleas to transfer the money and we would see the car, we eventually started to ignore them. A few days later, their website disappeared. I'm pretty certain it was a scam and that someone else probably paid for the car and that's why the website went offline. So, I get it. It's very convincing. As you balanced transferred theirs no hope I'm afraid, but a call to the police would be advisable.

BecauseReasons · 19/02/2020 07:53

So you didn't see or test drive the car? I'm sorry, but that was incredibly stupid.

And that was incredibly unhelpful. Talk about kicking someone when they're down.

HopeYouStepOnALego · 19/02/2020 07:54

If your bank can't help try contacting the bank that the scammer was using and let them know what's happened and the account number. If the account is still open they may be able to help get your money back.