Have I been scammed?!

[PlaneNoiz]

Part of me thinks yes but part me of me thinks no because I’ve been to her house.

Sold a nice item via a neighbourhood selling group and as it was heavy and I had a car I offered to drop it to the ladies house. She was very lovely and the house was lovely! But when I asked for payment, she asked for my bank details. I’ve sent them through and she says she’ll transfer…but having looked online it seems this is a common scam?!

But worst case I’ve been to her house and know her address. Or are people genuine and will transfer?

Getting scammed can happen to absolutely anyone. Hope you get your money, OP

If it were a scam, then presumably she would have done it before, and as it's a neighbourhood group, I think someone else would have mentioned it by now. If it's her first time, she knows you can tell the rest of the group. So I think the payment will come through eventually.

But if not, it's only £70 so try not to let it ruin your day. You've learned your lesson for next time.

Having someone deliver an item to your actual home address, in person, isn't part of any 'common scam' at all. Most people would have more sense.

Why do you assume buyer has Revolut? Majority of people I know don't have it.

I'm really hoping you get paid soon!

So that they can pay you. What do you think is going to happen?

Yes, but only by direct debit, and only to a big firm the banks trust. And the banks absolutely guarantee to refund a direct debit you didn't authorise. So you will get it back with no drama.

IF you haven't been paid, you could try contacting the local Neighbourhood Policing Team and see if they would do a visit - it might just be that the effect of a policeman on the doorstep makes them realise they need to pay up. I live rurally and these teams in my area are usually very helpful. Don't know if it's the same if you're in an urban area though.

I would bet £100 that you will get your £70. Most people are honest, you know where she lives, and it’s a local group so she’s unlikely to risk her reputation.

I agree.

I agree, inviting someone to your home with the intention of not paying them isn't a very sensible way to scam people

Unless of course it wasnt her house and she'd broken in as part of the con

Jesus!! I didn’t know about this!!

People are assuming that the house is actually her’s.. The house could be a front, like people do who e.g. run puppy farms. They rent a house to make it look like the puppies are living in a home environment.

While faster payments are usually immediate they can take up to two hours, but if you haven’t received it by then then I’d say definitely a scam.

Honest people don’t wait hours to pay for an item which someone has already delivered to them.

And people may not have mentioned on the group because they feel like idiots or because she may be new to this.

It's absolutely nothing to worry about, at all.

I think she will pay seeing as you’ve been to her house, if not go back. It usually takes a few seconds to transfer money but it can take a couple of hours, or maybe it’s not gone through but she hasn’t realised. Hope she replies soon.

Why are you assuming the buyer has Revolut too?

It's likely that they do not have Revolut and the transfer in can take longer than a traditional bank transfer.

Good luck OP - I hope it comes through tonight!

I do believe she lives there btw. Some other posts of hers in the group are about childcare etc and it all matches up. So I don’t think it’s a front!

Thank you! I feel a fool.

You mean the exact same bank details that were printed on every personal cheque anyone ever used in the history of writing personal cheques?

If you don’t have it by tomorrow morning, I’d call in on her.

Don't beat yourself up, these things happen.

If it hasn't reached your account in the morning, message her and say you'll be coming round today for the cash or to collect the item back.

If she was going to scam you, she wouldn't have said she had sent the money 15 mins ago. Instead she would have claimed she'd already paid in cash.

All this safety advice goes out of the window when someone drives 200 miles to you to pay cash for a car.
Try counting and wiping with a counterfeit marker thousands of pounds, while they're waiting to make the journey back.

OP If you still cant see it even as a pending transaction on your account by tomorrow morning, you could ring your bank. If it is in the pipeline somewhere further down the line they may be able to see it before you can.

ETA: Depending on which banks each of you uses some transactions go through immediately but some can take up to a couple of days.

So you think she rented a house and joined a local group to get people to deliver second hand stuff to her before doing a runner?

So she’d have to put significant effort into the planning, fork out to hire the house, scope out the selling group as well as fake a social media profile that showed her to be local, and arrange for sufficient people to drop stuff off to her on the same day for it to at least cover the costs of the house rental.