I was scammed out of £3400 today and I feel suicidal

[MoSalahsBeard]

Scammy plumber firm ripped me off today to the tune of £3400. They ripped everything out of the bathroom to ‘investigate’ the problem for which they charged me £300 an hour emergency rate when I never said it was an emergency at any point. Was my word against theirs. Turns out they operate under many different company names and after doing digging into the other company names there are tonnes of awful reviews saying they rip you off by saying either they or you classed it as an emergency and charge a fortune. The man wouldn’t leave my house til I paid him, I’m on my own in the house as husband is away on business.

i spent all afternoon bawling my eyes out on the phone to Trading Standards, lawyers, and the company itself. I absolutely lost it. SENSITIVE CONTENT REDACTED BY MNHQ

Called the Samaritans crying saying I feel like killing myself. I’m trying to hold it together for my kid but I feel utterly broken. Ashamed, embarrassed, furious and feeling like I don’t deserve to eat for months until this is paid off. I don’t know how to cope with this. I’m utterly devastated.

@MoSalahsBeard I’m sorry that this has happened to you. Take a deep breath, then write everything down that was said. Screenshot all text/message exchanges now. Then call the police - you will need a crime reference number for the bank to understand that this is a serious matter. Which it is. Then leave reviews everywhere - particularly google which cannot be removed by the trader and name all of the other companies this person is known by.

They’ve done this to you and you are young - imagine if this was your Gran. Despicable behaviour.

Those absolute bastards. You are panicking OP and these intense feelings will pass. You are a victim of crime like so many others. I'm not in UK but I think there may be a crime victim helpline to let you talk it out and offer support. My FIL lost 20k a few years ago. Everyone was furious but not with him. I'm so sorry this happened to you. Try to breathe slowly and think of the good things in your life. If it were me I'd drink wine and play music, but do whatever you need to get you through tonight.

Was nothing signed? So they spent 11 hours there ripping it out and aren't coming back, all to find a leak?

They told you they wouldn't leave until you paid them..absolutely speak to the credit card company and explain the situation. I'm pretty sure they will support and help you.

Hi OP, I'm so sorry you have been a victim of fraud. Please please call your Bank. They will be able to help you. Mention it was under duress and tell them how you are feeling. Be kind to yourself, we all make mistakes. I work for a Bank and fell for a romance scam. To this day I have told no one from the shame. It happens to so many people. It stings but you will be fine. You can recover from this.

Please speak to the police, this will help your case with the card company.

You were a loan female who paid under duress. I’m so sorry, but please stay calm and be kind to yourself tonight. Nobody died, you are safe x

Is the problem fixed?

Oh what a horrible situation! It really can happen to anyone and reading about these situations it so easy to think ' i would do this and that instead' but I know In your situation i would have done the same ( as would loads of ppl). Deep breaths . It sounds like you realised soon and are already taking practical steps.

Please don't hurt yourself.
It is not your fault.
Something similar happened to me too. Two builders, really intimidating wouldn't leave the house until I paid them in cash. Husband away working. It was awful. I had to got to a number of different banks to withdraw money. I was crying hysterically by the time I got to the third bank. Got home paid them. And then later found out that my husband had agreed to transfer the money on completion of the job. They never returned, we had to pay someone else to finish the job and a couple months later we discovered they had also stolen some of my jewellery.
I felt like such a fool, bullied and panicked. But it wasn't my fault and this is not yours. Sending you hugs xxx

So to clarify, yes they did fix the issue, with a part that they reckon cost £950, but I have no receipt, no proof of it or anything. I spoke to another very kind plumber at length afterwards who said that part would have been less than £500.

I feel like it’s my word against the company.

You didn’t get scammed.

Thieves entered your home with the sole purpose of stealing from you.

Dont blame yourself.
You're safe and you will get through it.

Can you call the police OP? If they intimidated you into handing over thousands of pounds surely thats a crime!

Not your fault at all OP, massive hugs, they are massive shitcunts and hope they get prosecuted for this disgusting thievery. Xx

💐

What an insensitive, self absorbed comment. What is wrong with you? It's not a competition.

Dont be silly. Police wont care.

So about 8 hours @£300/hour and a £950 part. They should at least have given you an invoice.

If you move funds from your bank account would the payment then bounce if it’s not gone through yet?

Do you have legal expenses insurance as part of your household insurance policy? It might cover the cost of legal advice on this

Has the money left your account yet?

You need to ring the police. They refused to leave your home. Don’t blame yourself. But for anyone else reading, if someone refuses to leave ring the police.

I hear you and I'd be gutted too.

But although it's a lot of money, it is only money. You're safe and these people are distrusting. You've done nothing wrong.

Contact the bank asking for the fraud department not just the generic dude who answers..
Report them to the police. They terrorised you in your own home.

Bit harsh @Cherryfloat , I didn't read @TheaBrandt comment that way, they were just showing OP she isn't alone in this.

This.

Look there is an excellent chance that the cc will be able to get this back for you. Dispute payment, report to police for threatening behaviour if you want. Even if, though, you lost every single penny, how is your LIFE not worth more than 3400 squid? I wouldn't be suicidal I'd be fucking raging. Channel that inner bitch and say 'HELL NO, scamming plumber, you picked on the wrong girl!'. You are a smart, competent, woman who was bullied into payment, not a victim. You got this.

I'm not surprised you're pissed off. I think it's a common scam tbh as an "electrician" tried to do it to us earlier this year. £600 for three hours of doing cock all and not fixing the issue. Kind of a hollow victory as I literally didn't have access to £600 with it being so close to pay day. If I'd just been paid though, who knows? Their usual procedure was to not leave until paid either. Think he left as I was obviously penniless and had two small children with me, so didn't want it to get ugly. My point is though, it wouldn't be a common scam if it didn't work a lot of the time, so don't beat yourself up too much.

Re the suicide, please PLEASE realise your worth is infinitely more than £3,400. We have a suicide funeral to attend next month, it's devastating and nothing is worth that. Especially not to your DC. If you are worried at all you might do something stupid, go and stay with someone irl. Anyone. I wasn't super close to our friend who died (she was my OHs childhood friend), and if I could go back in time I would demand she stay with us to stop what she did. I WISH she'd given someone the chance to help her. Please reach out.

Hello OP, we are really sorry to hear you are feeling this way.

We hope you don't mind, but when these threads are flagged up to us we usually add a link to our Mental Health resources.
You can also go to the Samaritans website, or email them on [email protected]. Support from other Mumsnetters is great and we really hope you will be able to take some comfort from your fellow posters, but as other MNers will tell you, it's really a good idea to seek RL help and support as well.

We also like to remind everyone that, although we're awed daily by the astonishing support our members give each other through life's trickier twists and turns, we'd always caution anyone never to give more of themselves to another poster, emotionally or financially, than they can afford to spare.