Scammed and so angry with myself

Oddshapedoctopus

Oddshapedoctopus

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I'm really upset with myself right now as I've been scammed on Facebook.

I did all the usual safety precautions beside how I sent the money. Due to an issue with my paypal I sent the money via bank transfer and sure enough the person on Facebook has now vanished along with my money.

The bank are hopefully dealing with this now but I've heard how these things generally go and I might as well kiss goodbye to that chunk.

Just really needed to vent more than anything.
 
Sorry to hear that and remember no matter how much you feel its your fault its not, the blame lies squarely on the scumbag who perpetrated the scam.
Hopefully not too much cash and sure you will never make that mistake again, so take that as a positive.
 
What was it for and how much? I don't do social media but my daughter has sold things on a local facebook group and we've always had them come to our house.
 
Byker28i said:
What was it for and how much? I don't do social media but my daughter has sold things on a local facebook group and we've always had them come to our house.
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I think this is the way. I recently bought anApple Thunderbolt Display off “NextDoor” (sort of local FaceBook) but went the man’s house and paid cash. The OP mentions PayPal but I don’t think that gives much protection unlike a credit card.
 
My wife got scammed a few years ago on FB. All seemed reputable enough, pay half now, half on delivery. Paid by bank transfer. Needless to say, the goods never turned up and we were £175 worse off.

We've accepted the sh*tester scammed us and Karma will have its' day but, albeit an expensive lesson, we won't be had again. Never ever send money to somebody you don't know, unless you can be sure they are legit.
 
sphexx said:
I think this is the way. I recently bought anApple Thunderbolt Display off “NextDoor” (sort of local FaceBook) but went the man’s house and paid cash. The OP mentions PayPal but I don’t think that gives much protection unlike a credit card.
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PayPal gift payment (friends and family) gives the buyer no protection at all... that’s the price of paying no fees. It’s fine if you know or trust the seller but otherwise it’s worth paying the extra money for PP goods and services. That does give the buyer a comeback if things go wrong.
 
Yeah its an expensive lesson I've learnt (£615 expensive).
I'm normally quite good at checking things out and everything seemed legit.
He had a proper account which was populated and had been made in 2013, photography pictures et Al.
I've bought loads off Facebook local and posted and never had an issue before.
He claimed he couldn't use PayPal due to an on going issue which being in a similar situation I sympathised.
Will be doing some research into other services that offer money transfers and protection for the next time I buy something either on here or on Facebook.
 
such is life plenty of people out there to be scammed.
And then we also complain about the nanny state intruding in our lives.

I used to moan if my bank rang me up to check a transaction was legit now I smile and thank them for the call.
 
£600+??!! Blimey, that’s a big chunk of dosh to lose. With that amount of money I’d always be very careful: either pay by credit card or proper PayPal if you can’t collect and pay in person. And never believe these sob stories, there’s always a reason behind them.

I would notify the police or use the ActionFraud website: sorry to say you probably won’t get any money back to be honest but it might help track down the scammer, especially if he or she does this sort of thing regularly.
 
Yeah reporting to action fraud now. I've never had a problem before and have bought more expensive items on here and on facebook groups (all closed groups too).
I'm aware I've probably lost the money and know of another user on facebook who's also been scammed so we're both reporting it.
Hope Karma kicks the guy good and proper.
 
boogie man said:
I would notify the police or use the ActionFraud website: sorry to say you probably won’t get any money back to be honest but it might help track down the scammer, especially if he or she does this sort of thing regularly.
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This^, :plus1:

... we did, it didn't get our money back but it got the relevant authorities onto him.

Also, if you get a name, name and shame. The guy that scammed us was somebody called Danny Sefton, posing as selling sofas. Probably an alias but if you come across that name, avoid. (mods remove if not allowed)
 
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boogie man said:
I’d always be very careful: either pay by credit card or proper PayPal
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I don't regard 'proper' PayPal as safe. Far from it.

A few years ago I woke up and whilst checking my email's to find a number of transaction notifications from PayPal had been sent overnight. I logged into my PayPal account to find one completed transaction for £20 and two more pending for £200 and £2000. These were entirely bogus transactions. I contacted PayPal immediately and found them to be entirely unhelpful. Instead of cancelling or suspending the transactions and investigating them; they said they had to allow the transactions to complete. This would have caused me financial problems. I was told that once the transactions had completed, they would then investigate, and if they found in my favour I would be refunded.

All fairly appalling- I will never use PayPal again.
 
Simon Kitt said:
Will be doing some research into other services that offer money transfers and protection for the next time I buy something either on here or on Facebook.
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\

That service is called CASH ON COLLECTION. Even if it is 200 miles away. At the end of the day you get to shoot some landscapes you wouldn't otherwise.

Anything else is crazy. I hope you have learnt your lesson.
 
LongLensPhotography said:
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That service is called CASH ON COLLECTION. Even if it is 200 miles away. At the end of the day you get to shoot some landscapes you wouldn't otherwise.

Anything else is crazy. I hope you have learnt your lesson.
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Blinding idea, drive 200 miles to a strange manor, they know you are holding so get turned over for your wad, any more bright ideas.
 
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tijuana taxi said:
So drive 200 miles to a strange manor, they know you are holding and get turned over for your wad, any more bright ideas.
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You do the maths if it is worth it and decide on safe location to meet. Sending money outside of ebay is stupid. End of discussion.
 
tijuana taxi said:
I have and your idea stinks. so how do you suss out if its kosher, crystal ball or what
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If I was a scammer this is exactly the sort of thing I would try to tell people. I'm not suggesting you are but considering the OP's case you are sending the wrong message.
 
LongLensPhotography said:
If I was a scammer this is exactly the sort of thing I would try to tell people. I'm not suggesting you are but considering the OP's case you are sending the wrong message.
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Really took offence at this mate, what are you on about, you are the one suggesting going with cash to a strange gaff.
I'm usually quite a mild mannered bloke, but you have p***ed me right off
 
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Actually I had similar on here once. We were discussing the Canon 100-400 lens and someone was thinking of buying one. We got into discussion and I suggested he try mine as he lived fairly local, I suggested a local park with a lake and ducks etc. Then he got cold feet as his daughter said "You're meeting a bloke on the internet you don't know, with an expensive camera, in a park...."

Then it got into - well hang on a minute - I've got the same plus lens... :D So I offered my home address but he didn't take it up
 
tijuana taxi said:
Blinding idea, drive 200 miles to a strange manor, they know you are holding so get turned over for your wad, any more bright ideas.
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You don't take the cash - check on a local cashpoint location, or keep the cash hidden in the car until you've seen the item?
It's not been a problem when I've bought second hand cars
 
Byker28i said:
You don't take the cash - check on a local cashpoint location, or keep the cash hidden in the car until you've seen the item?
It's not been a problem when I've bought second hand cars
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Or do a bank transfer off your phone once you’ve seen the goods
 
I did sell a lens once by arranging to meet a bloke in a bank. He checked the lens and I paid the cash in there and then to make sure they weren't snide notes.

Not keen on it though, doesn't help promote trust when lots of people reckon I look like a villain anyway
 
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tijuana taxi said:
Really took offence at this mate, what are you on about, you are the one suggesting going with cash to a strange gaff.
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No offence, but if you send money away to random people you will eventually get to the same situation. You can meet in a bank which you will agree is 100% safe.
 
I have met umpteen people via Gumtree both as a seller and buyer and never had an issue. I've met them at theirs, mine and in public places. I always suggest public places but sometimes people would rather come here as if something is wrong when they go home they know where to return to. I suppose I've been lucky but no more so than sending money via forums.
 
Calm down lads..... no real need for the aggression is there?
 
Sorry to hear this, Simon. Apart from the bad feeling I'm sure you have from being the victim of a scam that is a serious amount of money.

Try to ignore any negative comments here, though I reckon they can't make you feel any worse than you do yourself.

Hope you get good resolution - money back would be great but even knowing there is/might be an investigation would be something.

Its probably difficult now but try to walk away from it.

All the best

Dave
 
Uncle Fester said:
I don't regard 'proper' PayPal as safe. Far from it.

A few years ago I woke up and whilst checking my email's to find a number of transaction notifications from PayPal had been sent overnight. I logged into my PayPal account to find one completed transaction for £20 and two more pending for £200 and £2000. These were entirely bogus transactions. I contacted PayPal immediately and found them to be entirely unhelpful. Instead of cancelling or suspending the transactions and investigating them; they said they had to allow the transactions to complete. This would have caused me financial problems. I was told that once the transactions had completed, they would then investigate, and if they found in my favour I would be refunded.

All fairly appalling- I will never use PayPal again.
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People who think Paypal is safe have never seen the ugly side of this company ! you better hope you don't. I got on the wrong side of a scam and Paypal's appalling lax procedures made it 500% worse than it should have been.

I'm with Uncle Fester here.
 
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I'm off paypal due to being scammed and them doing nothing except demand I paid them the money.
I think some people are getting too involved in this and are getting themselves and other wound up.

I am progressing this via the police and even if I don't get my money back hopefully something can be done to stop the guy doing it again.

Also it looks like he doesn't change his name and always post as Paul Litchfield so just in case he decides to move across to here or you are also part of the usual facebook groups be careful everyone.
 
Simon Kitt said:
I'm off paypal due to being scammed and them doing nothing except demand I paid them the money.
I think some people are getting too involved in this and are getting themselves and other wound up.

I am progressing this via the police and even if I don't get my money back hopefully something can be done to stop the guy doing it again.

Also it looks like he doesn't change his name and always post as Paul Litchfield so just in case he decides to move across to here or you are also part of the usual facebook groups be careful everyone.
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I hope you get somewhere with police etc. It’s really upsetting/annoying to be on the receiving end of. I think we’ve all (including me ) gone on a bit too much about.what one should do etc, sorry!
 
Don’t listen to the fools saying you are stupid to send money to someone you don’t know. I’ve bought loads of items via forums (including this one) where I’ve sent money via BT to a stranger and I’ve not been scammed.

Yes it might happen in future, but I do what due diligence I can and trade when I feel comfortable.

As has been said, you are not at fault, the scammer is.
 
Simon Kitt said:
I did all the usual safety precautions beside how I sent the money. Due to an issue with my paypal I sent the money via bank transfer
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I'm always baffled by this. If you've tried to open a bank account recently you'll know that it's not that easy. Money laundering regs mean that banks have to be pretty confident they know who you are and where you live. It would be possible to set up a bank account in somebody else's name/address but it's a fair bit of effort and (probably) fraud. (Actually it's probably terrorism - most things are now and the act talks about terrorism an awful lot.)

And yet when some poor unfortunate person sends money to another UK bank there is apparently "nothing they can do" to help trace the person.

Funny that.
 
its the reason why sites like this have trading profiles and e/bay has feedback .works both ways . or you can try and be smart like I was yesterday ,needed a screen protector for my i.pad ,looked them up on e/bay and amazon loads of glass screen protectors on both sites for around the £5 to £6 mark ,but I wanted it there and then in my hand ,went down town they were a minimum of £12 sod that I thought I'll go to the nearest large town bound to get one there ,only two out of the listed 7 computer shops open ? the first one had two asian guys in it when I told them what I wanted they produced several boxes but didn't know which was the right one ,I didn't even bother to ask a price .goes round to the next open shop ,yep I got one he says £15 ,but there only £6 on amazon says i .shopkeeper f***s off muttering . 35 mile round trip and £2 for parking total waste of time ordered from amazon when I got home some robbers don't rob you directly they pretend to be honest shopkeepers
 
With a bit of luck the scammer will do it to the wrong person
Some people take it personnel and there's some very nasty people out there
 
badlywornroy said:
Are you prepared for Paypal giving your details to debt collection agencies if you do not pay them ‘their money’ ?
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It's resolved now via me arguing with them and taking the matter to the police and PayPal have cleared it but I now refuse to use PayPal as they did cock all to help.
 
I use Paypal a lot but I'm not at all fooled into thinking they're 'safe', there are horror stories going back years of Paypal's draconian treatment of customers to cover their own lax security. Things did improve when eBay bought them out but clearly not by much.

On a related note - I got several texts yesterday with authentication codes for Google/GMail. I set up text authentication a while ago as extra security against my account being hacked and it seems it works so I'm glad I did. The requests had originated from different mobile numbers and were clearly somebody trying to gain access to my account.
 
There were reports yesterday of 1.4 billion account names and passwords being passed around on the dark web.
 
Simon Kitt said:
It's resolved now via me arguing with them and taking the matter to the police and PayPal have cleared it but I now refuse to use PayPal as they did cock all to help.
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Good, I’m glad it’s sorted.
In my case the Scammer got my item and I received the cleared funds via Paypal. Shortly after another ebayer contacted me and warned me the buyer was using a hacked account and he had warned Paypal. Paypal did not react in time and I got caught. Paypal then came after me for the scammed funds, fortunately I had already transferred them to my bank account. To cut a long story short I had 3 different debt collection agencies chase me for the funds over the next 2 years. Each time I replied by recorded letter disputing the debt and stating my case and informing them I would only pay if a UK court ruled I must. I would then hear no more from that debt collection agency (I guess they thought I was too much trouble ?) Then another agency would chase me for the same debt and I would do the same again. The debt was originally approx £300.00 but was increasing with time and subsequent debt collection agencies. I did contact Paypal by recorded delivery on two occasions but never received a reply.
Paypal have obviously given up chasing me and ‘siccing’ numerous debt collection agencies on me. In all my 70 years this is the most odious company I have ever had the misfortune to have dealings with.
 
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