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.

[Allthebestusernameshavegone]

Happened to me once years ago! My ex was desperate for a wii when they first came out but we’re out of stock everywhere. He was so desperate he went onto eBay and found one for sale. I was young and naive and paid via bank transfer as the ad asked.
It never came. I made a report to the police, I even tracked down the bank via its sorting code and gave the info to the police. They weren’t interested. I contacted the bank the account was linked too to tell them this person had scammed me but they weren’t interested either.
We luckily managed to claim some back from eBay but lost about half of our money. I don’t think eBay allow bank transfers now. But this was about 2007 I think?
Anyway I chalked it up to experience and have never let myself get caught out since.

That’s so awful op. Hope you’re ok xxx

[StatementKnickers]

If he had a lot of detail in his profile it's more likely he's blocked you than taken down his FB completely. Someone else can look for you maybe?

[DagenhamRoundhouse]

Scumbags will always see opportunity when others see trouble and problems.

[browneyes77]

OP don’t give up just yet.
You have nothing to lose by contacting your bank and contacting the police.

If nothing can be done at least you tried. But you never know, the bank maybe able to get your money back. It might be a small possibility, but it’s still a possibility.

Also think of it this way, if the police were able to track this person down, it stops them from doing this to someone else.

Chalk it up to experience AFTER you’ve spoken to your bank and the police, not before.

[OJZJ]

PurpleThistles84
I haven't rtft so don't know if you have had any success reclaiming your money.
I know this isn't going tohelp you now, but
when my son really, really wanted a switch but I could not justify spending 400 on a games console (I hate them) then 50 plus pounds per game for a 6/7 yr old so I give him money for Xmas, birthday, etc and he actually lost interest in the idea of a console whilst saving for it, which is great as I would be really annoyed had I spent 500 plus and he lost interest after buying it.
Maybe do that and ask people to help towards one as well. Good luck

[WoollyMollyMonkey]

My niece had a similar experience, but on Shpok (?sp - something like that). Bastard took around £300 off her for a Switch and games package. Luckily she’s paid by PayPal so should hopefully get it back. Makes you feel sick when you get scammed - happened to me too on eBay, never use it now. Horrible for you PurpleThistle.

[FelicisNox]

@Truthpact your comment is after the fact therefore not helpful.

But you know this already. You just enjoy feeling superior but YOU need to listen and understand that you can't sprinkle glitter on shit and call it a fairy.

If you're gonna be the mean girl, own it.

[Oscarsdaddy]

Oh no, really sorry to read this, I hate scammers, absolutely detest them and by reading your story you could afford to lose £100

I really hope something can be done to help you

[Bozlem80]

Try your bank, you might be able to do a chargeback on your account, I did it once when I stupidly bought some hand sanitizer from a company on fb was under £20 but I got my money back, save your conversations if you can & screenshot the persons account that’s been deleted, good luck

[ALongHardWinter]

There's always one,isn't there? Victim blamer,I mean.

[Noextremes2017]

If it looks too good to be true ……. it probably is.

[Oscarsdaddy]

Above post should read could NOT afford to lose £100

[Funpixie]

It’s called advance fee fraud and if you report to your bank they can contact the bank you paid and challenge it - if the money is still in the account you can possibly get it back xx don’t beat yourself up xx hope you get a good result xx

[Noextremes2017]

Some earlier poster said people are worried about their jobs so they are turning to scamming.

Do they think it is a legitimate career change?

Do we have to add a growing army of scammers to the list of unintended consequences of Johnson's mishandling of the Covid-19 fiasco?

Personally I am thinking of setting up as an unqualified mental health professional but I am not sure I could handle the rush of clients......

[Noextremes2017]

And 99% of the time the money will not be in the scammers bank account.

They are criminals but they are not stupid!

[riceuten]

It's definitely worth alerting Action Fraud - the bank account he had you transfer money to should prove useful to stop further fraud - though I guess it was a "mule" (people recruited to receive and dispatch cash). Some of the new money laundering regulations that will require the full name of the account holder for the payment to go through will assist in the future, though I realise this will be of scant comfort to you now.

[SpiralHecate]

It's not your fault, it's the fault of the lying git who goes around conning people.

[keeptheaspidistra]

I'm sorry that's happened to you. Please ignore any victim blaming comments (hi @Truthpact ) you don't need or deserve them x

[Ethicalbluey45]

:( its not your fault hope your daughter had a pleasant birthday and that twat gets his comeuppance one day xx

[kkate73]

@PurpleThistles84 You need to phone your bank and report that you've been scammed. Your bank will be able to get in contact where the funds have gone to and report this with them. It may be that the account details might already have been blocked because of other people who have fallen for the same scam, so you might get your money back, you never know. I work in a Fraud Department and we're getting a lot of people falling for scams just like this.

[Tommo75]

I think you could still report it. If he's scamming through his account his Bank won't want him to continue their relationship with them.

[leftovercoffeecake]

OP I’m really sorry to hear this. Someone tried to scam my dad on gumtree. He was looking for a new phone, found what he thought was a good one and contacted the seller. She said that it was her teenage son selling the phone, so instead of cash, could my dad buy Microsoft vouchers of the same value and post those . He said no and the woman was very insistent and said she wouldn’t take cash, it had to be vouchers. Thankfully he saw the signs and reported her account.

Unfortunately there are a lot of twisted people out there. There are so many scams you have to watch out for and it’s not always easy to spot the signs

[Miisty]

Martin Lewis says never pay by bank transfer always credit card Also if something seems to good to be true it often is Sorry to heat you lost your money lots of horrible people out there

[StudentMummy20]

Might not be helpful but Very has the switch lite in stock and you can pay it in 3 interest free payments x

[murakamilove]

So sorry OP.
I’m sure everyone has fallen for something in their lives. We all want to good to be true to be genuine. Xx