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.

[Iwalkinmyclothing]

Some people are just scum. I'm sorry this has happened to you.

[Racheyg]

This has happened to me before through depop but because I paid via paypal friends and family. and my bank, paypal and depop said there was nothing I could do. sorry this has happened to you.

[CHIRIBAYA]

Don't be too hard on yourself and make the mistake of thinking you are stupid. It can and does happen to anyone, even those on here who think they are too smart. You've learned a valuable lesson and will be able to better protect yourself in the future.

[Schoenes]

I have a bridge to sell you.

[Riv12345]

This happened to me with a mobile phone.

He said if you pay now I will go up the post office now and send it so you get it tomorrow,

Of course I was excited, paid him via bank transfer,
Never heard from him again and never received the phone, contacted my bank to see if I could stop the payment. They couldn't as it was sent in good will, they put me through to the fraud department, they checked his bank it was completely empty so he got my money and closed that account!!
I couldn't believe it he was so believable, he said he's not good with social media etc sounded very genuine.

[PlanDeRaccordement]

Don’t buy anything expensive over FB. It is full of scammers. I’ll at most buy a used book for a few euro. It’s the same with booking BnBs or holiday properties....never ever do it via FB as it is usually a scam.
FB should be doing more to prevent this, but they aren’t.

[RandomLondoner]

I think that in future banks are going to have to be responsible for their customers. What this would mean in practise is that the bank whose account the money was received into would have to repay a fraudulent transfer.

Apart from getting to know their customers, there are lots of things banks could do to mitigate the risk. They could freeze suspicious incoming amounts until the period allowed for making a fraud claim had expired. They could require risky customers to insure the bank against fraud, which would drive up the cost of having a bank account for those people.

[Moomin12345]

Trust no one. Don't ever assume scanners, who are parasitic scumbags by nature, care about coronavirus or anything else. They'd scam an NHS worker out of their last penny. They'd scam an elderly vulnerable person. They'd scam a lonely cancer patient. They are so successful because they almost always seem very genuine and people care too much about being polite and are thus gullible.

[ilovemydogandMrObama]

@JamieFraserskneewarmer - really great advice. I have had money refunded from bank, or rather the charge reversed for something slightly similar.

[thecatsarecrazy]

So sorry this has happened to you. I saw a post yesterday about someone who was selling an i phone and stole the money. These people are scum. I bought a phone off someone once, met in person checked phone over then when I got it home I realized the main button only worked sometimes. Utterly useless and would have cost me the same again to get it fixed. When I sent a message I got well it was fine when I sold it to you..

[MongerTruffle]

Mammyof22020

Chargeback only applies to card payments. When you pay by bank transfer, you may as well have paid in cash.

[TooTrueToBeGood]

Apart from getting to know their customers, there are lots of things banks could do to mitigate the risk. They could freeze suspicious incoming amounts until the period allowed for making a fraud claim had expired. They could require risky customers to insure the bank against fraud, which would drive up the cost of having a bank account for those people.

It wouldn't need to be that difficult either as most professional scammers will use throwaway bank accounts that they've set up with fake ID or paid a stooge to open for them. All the banks would need to do is implement a hold on any transfers to accounts that are under a certain age or don't have a reasonable transaction history. That would not make it a lot more difficult for the scammers without inconveniencing the majority of legitimate account holders.

[Justkeepswimmingdory]

@JamieFraserskneewarmer is right. You should get your money back from the bank.
The rules have changed on bank transfers recently and banks now have a duty to check that the recipient account matches the name that you've been given. Pretty much all big banks are signed up to it

www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/what-to-do-if-youre-the-victim-of-a-bank-transfer-app-scam

[MagnoliaJustice]

My DD was almost the victim of a reverse of one of these scammers. She was selling her PlayStation and was offered 4 times what she was asking for it - it is a very common overpayment scam which fortunately I was alert to (brother works in financial services and had talked about this very scam recently). Trying to convince an excited teenager NOT to accept the offer of several hundred pounds was difficult. As someone else has said, if something appears to good to be true, it usually is.

[Puzzledandpissedoff]

You could have been scammed for sonsiderably more than this, so try to consider it an educational experience that cost you £100 but that could save you money in the long term

I think this is probably the best way to look at it, but I'm sorry it happened to you at all

As an aside, just why do folk use bank transfers at all? I can just about see it if it's someone you know and trust, but surely there are far better ways - and if someone won't accept them I'm afraid I'd consider it automatically suspect (especially if it involves high value tech)

[CrystalTipped]

Contact your bank, they may be able to help you.

[SchadenfreudePersonified]

No need to be such a cow Truthpact

Believe it or not, most honest people tend to trust others until after their fingers are burned (or they know someone it has happened to), because it never occurs to them that someone will be so mean.

OP- I'm so sorry this has happened. It must have knocked you sick to be robbed like this, especially as it was for a gift for your DD.

Do as others have suggested and file a report.

[famousforwrongreason]

As a single mum with disabilities I seem To be a magnet for this sort of thing.

I work really bloody hard for our money so I get how disheartened you feel. I just cry in despair sometimes.
This year alone I've been ripped off three times so my plan is to return to the old fashioned way of saving until we can actually afford the item new or from a reputable second hand trader.
It's not as good for the environment and goes against all my green principles but at least this way we have guarantees and return policies if anything goes wrong.

[SharonasCorona]

We’ve all been there, OP, in different ways.

A builder fucked up our bathroom so badly and we still paid him most of the money. I felt so stupid. I hope he’s fucking homeless now as he didn’t pay tax. (We paid by bank transfer too).

[famousforwrongreason]

Aww @SharonasCorona it's grim isn't it? Particularly when they come in your house. I got shafted by a builder (not in a sexy way).
It was so upsetting, bad treatment and you've offered hospitality as well as your hard earned pay.
I always feel particularly shit in front of the children, if / when they find out, I feel so impotent / incompetent when I have no recourse

[FredAstaireAteMyHamSandwich]

He may not have disappeared from FB, but just blocked you. Send me a message and area and I will check if he’s still on there.

[SharonasCorona]

@famousforwrongreason

famousforwrongreason

Aww @SharonasCorona* it's grim isn't it? Particularly when they come in your house. I got shafted by a builder (not in a sexy way).
It was so upsetting, bad treatment and you've offered hospitality as well as your hard earned pay.*
I always feel particularly shit in front of the children, if / when they find out, I feel so impotent / incompetent when I have no recourse

I’m so sorry it happened to you too. Yes, very upsetting as we tried to be accommodating too I did consider small claims court but I just didn’t have the energy in the end.

[famousforwrongreason]

@SharonasCorona yes that's the same as me, I considered small claims but I didn't have anything in writing despite keep asking and he was asking for more cash every day, I was working two jobs and trying to manage ill health and kids to and from school etc and I just had no energy left to deal with him.
this guy trampled over every boundary and finally he left our house unsafe and me at risk . It was hard as he came recommended by a trusted and respected friend who's his family member, she's no longer my friend!
his online work looked amazing so I had high hopes but he was an absolute cowboy. I ran out out of money and ended up trying to fix it myself and it still looks shonk today and really not fit for purpose!
I can't believe how many people behave like this and I think a lot of the time they get away with it because we feel such twats afterwards.
I couldn't imagine ever treating anyone this way