To think I’ve been an idiot (scammed)

[PurpleThistles84]

My daughters birthday is next month and she asked for a Nintendo switch lite. Being a family of seven money is quite tight so when I came across one for sale via fb market place for £100 I was delighted. Made contact, the gentleman seemed genuine, he was selling it for his grandson, was postage only because of the coronavirus. I paid by bank transfer over a week ago, he said he would let me know when it was posted.

I have heard nothing and today his Facebook profile has disappeared so I know I’ve been scammed and there is nothing I can do about it is there. I also know I’ve only myself to blame, I should have insisted on PayPal payment at least but he said he had never used it and being ‘Elderly’ I accepted that.

I do feel quite upset however, with all this coronavirus stuff going on, I guess I thought people would be being kind to each other, but there you go.

[quarantinevibes]

Sounds like you’ve been scammed. Always ask to pay goods and services, if they don’t agree with the excuse they have to pay fees tell them you’ll cover the 2.5% PayPal fees it’s well worth it. If they still can’t agree to this you know they’re not genuine. Report him to the police, I bet you’re not the only one.

[NCagainwhenwhenwhen]

Definitely speak to your bank and the police! If it wasn't being sold as brand new then you weren't at all stupid to think it might be OK, but I suppose the current CV situation does give people scope to be scammers. But you have his bank details so I'm sure someone can trace him!

I bought my daughter a lovely brand new high spec Samsung phone on ebay for Christmas. It was advertised as slightly chipped but I messaged the person and they said the glass was fine, so we bid and got it for about £80. I imagine the seller was sent a replacement by the firm they bought it from who didn't want the damaged one back -so we had a real bargain! So you can get genuine deals....

[rawlikesushi]

"If you have paid by credit card, there may be some recourse from the credit card company."

OP really clearly states that she paid by bank transfer.

OP, please don't passively take this lying down and allow him to do it to other people. You probably weren't the first, and I'm sure you wish someone had reported him.

[Diverami]

If you have paid by credit card, there may be some recourse from the credit card company.

[SonnyRobes]

If you made a bank transfer then you'll have his banking info. That means you know his real identity... Show the messages to the police and the bank...

[Zeusthemoose]

Sorry this has happened Op. A similar thing happened to me a few months ago. You'll get nowhere with Fb. My bank showed some interest then I never heard back.

[Thegreymethod]

Please report it to your bank I got scammed last year for concert tickets and I honestly thought they wouldn't be able to do anything as I'd sent it bank transfer, but reported it because I was furious and a couple of weeks later it came back to my bank. Bank did say they couldn't guarantee it but for one phone all its worth a try.

[SunnySideDownBriefly]

Amazon are selling them for £40 a month for 5 months. I got one a fortnight ago. Would this be an option for you?

[Pingu32]

@Truthpact - your 2 mins might be better spent on looking up how to be pleasant but I guess that would be 2 mins wasted for you.

@understandme, let's waste no more of our time on truthpact

[MLMsuperfan]

Bank transfers are like sending cash. It's fine fo paying for things you've already recieved, but if thre's a way you can be ripped off by the seller, say you want to use PayPal or credit card. If ther seller objects to the fees, offer to pay half yourself (about 1.5%).

[MollyMinniesMum]

The bank should be able to trace the payment I think? X

[Shockers]

My son was scammed for festival tickets (£300)- is a very unfair and horrible way to discover that not everyone is as honest as you are .

[Barney60]

Sadly no this has brought out the worst in some people.
there is some help hopefully...I had a similar situation via e bay. contacted my bank who refunded me under a scheme called charge card. not sure if will work for bank transfer but works for debit cards upto I think £100. good luck.

[Beautifulmistake]

We've all been there in one sense or another. Trust isn't a fault of yours, being untrustworthy is a fault of others. I dont know how helpful this is to you or if it's still available this way but we got our kids a switch at Christmas on amazon and paid for it over 5 months the way they allow with their Fire products, might be worth looking into? Or I know EE sometimes has it available on their add to plan over 11 months. Hope your little one still has a lovely birthday! x

[avamiah]

This is Shocking and I feel terrible for OP but she took a Big chance by sending over money to a persons bank account who is a complete stranger to her but at least she won’t do it again .
I’m 47 and I was “scammed” taken in by a con artist about 15 years ago, once it happens to you, you never forget it or let it happen again .

[mixedkebab]

So sorry to hear this OP its even more upsetting when it was a present for.a child.

Definitely ring your bank asap. I had the same issue with £45 worth of books i ordered that never turned up. The bank refunded me the money immediately even though it had been 2 months since i placed the order. They also refunded me £67 worth of payments that had been made to apple even though it could have.been an app my daughter purchased by mistake on the ipad.

Good luck!

[DreamTheMoors]

@understandme

I totally agree. @Truthpact is shaming OP for being trusting and making an honest mistake which #1 isn’t kind and #2 isn’t helpful and #3 pretty much shows how superior she thinks she is. But she most certainly is not.

[Atthebottomofthegarden]

I’m sorry OP. I have heard of this scam before, someone who says they are student selling through NextDoor. Cash on collection for some reason impossible (and this was pre-CV), no pay pal either, Switch seems great value for money, only a bank transfer will do...

[Insanelysilver]

Don’t beat yourself up. The same thing happened to me last year when I paid someone for some living room lights. The woman sounded really nice and genuine but I never got them and I later found out she’d done the same to several other people.
I’m a lot more suspicious of apparent bargains now.
Really Sorry this happened to you. 😢

[Oscarsdaddy]

@Misty

Martin Lewis talks a great deal of sense but something like this a credit card wouldn’t have been an option

Facebook, EBay, Gumtree, etc are full of decent sellers but there’s always going to be a very stall percentage of scammers out there, just a shame it’s happened to one of our many fellow posters

[TinRoofRusty]

In the future, be aware, even the games are expensive! My teenager just downloaded Animal Crossing and she had to save up the money, it was 50 quid.

[Megan2018]

My husband works for a bank and all he has dealt with this week are these facebook scams. Literally hundreds.

You are not the only one @PurpleThistles84 but it is worse than ever in lockdown, people seem to be making really poor choices about sending money and doing things they wouldn’t ordinarily do. Sorry it has happened to you.

[mrsBtheparker]

Have you spoken to your bank?

I doubt that they will be able to help unless they can trace the money, If they can then it's one for the police. Good luck.

[DragonflyInn]

I think we all let our guard down from time to time, especially when we’ve got loads on and are trying to juggle many things (family of 7, lockdown etc). So thank you for sharing OP - I’m so sorry that this happened to you but at least hearing about it might be a useful reminder for others.

[Kate0902900908]

Hi Op.
I don't why people are being so harsh... Why didn't you check the going rate etc. At the end of the day you thought you we're going to get an item at the price you paid and you have been scammed which is horrid and very sad especially during these times were in.
I would absolutely ring the bank and ask them if they an help, failing that I would at least do a post to warn others including the name and picture? So it doesn’t happen to anyone else