Scammed.......

[sistafromanothermista]

Thanks for all the replies. The police have advised me to report it, however, DS has smashed the phone up to sell bits off it! so may not do this now...
I will definately do the letter thing though Sunflower, if nothing else hopefully it will sh!! her up enough never to do it again!

[heather66]

i hope you posted a warning comment on the facebook buy / sell webpage you bought it from ,.. i know it states on ours that you buy at your own risk but shocking how these scammers think they can get sell a dodgy / stolen / lost item for easy money and get away with it ..maybe not the first time they have done it ..i know you say it was only £40 but still a lot of money for someone trying to get a bargain

[sistafromanothermista]

I have been stewing on this for a while now....
I was going to post a letter through their door saying;



'
NOTICE OF COURT ACTION




This notice is to advise I will be seeking legal action regarding the illegal sale of a mobile phone from this address.

The cost of £40 which was paid by us for a phone which was stolen.
We are in receipt of all emails and correspondence sent by you relating to the item.

The police have also been informed.


As the Blackberry was sold to someone under the age of 18 (therefore a minor) all correspondence MUST legally go through me.
If you wish to resolve this matter by way of refund of money without court proceedings being actioned then contact me on the email address below.
If we do not hear from you within 14 days I will seek legal action against you to recover money paid.

Any correspondence from you to the Facebook user who, as noted , is under 18 will be classed as harassment.'


What do you guys think? i obviously don't want to do anything myself which is not considered legal.

[DUTR]

And someone didn't consider the £40 a bit too much of a bargain?
I think you could land yourself in trouble.
Seek legal advice on how to proceed, though you may have to just write the episode off to experience.

[warehouse]

You said your Son has broken up the phone to sell off bits. How can you pursue a refund for a stolen phone when knowingly selling parts of it?

[spacey2012]

If your son is selling on the phone parts, he would be handling stolen goods if the phone is nicked.
Just because you paid money, it does not make the item yours to sell.
I would contact the police with the phone details and report it as sold under good faith but you later suspect the item was stolen.
Only takes the first seller to be pulled in and say I sold it to so and so.
Bit of a mess I am afraid, so if you have the police involved, get the phone back together and see what they want to do first.
Just Opinion...

[sistafromanothermista]

Originally Posted by DUTR

And someone didn't consider the £40 a bit too much of a bargain?
I think you could land yourself in trouble.
Seek legal advice on how to proceed, though you may have to just write the episode off to experience.

No, it was quite an old bb bold.
That's what i'm worried about (the getting myself in trouble bit)
I thought i'd give it a last ditch attempt if i could to get the ££ back, although you're probably right about writing it off.....

Thanks

[sistafromanothermista]

Originally Posted by warehouse

You said your Son has broken up the phone to sell off bits. How can you pursue a refund for a stolen phone when knowingly selling parts of it?

Hi warehouse, he didn't sell any of it in the end as that's what i thought, and didn't want to have anything to do with it. DH took a hammer to it to stop it being sold on (DS might have 'sold' it onto a friend little sod )
I just hate the thought she got away with it IYSWIM,...

[sistafromanothermista]

Originally Posted by spacey2012

If your son is selling on the phone parts, he would be handling stolen goods if the phone is nicked.
Just because you paid money, it does not make the item yours to sell.
I would contact the police with the phone details and report it as sold under good faith but you later suspect the item was stolen.
Only takes the first seller to be pulled in and say I sold it to so and so.
Bit of a mess I am afraid, so if you have the police involved, get the phone back together and see what they want to do first.
Just Opinion...

spacey....
at phone back together, i'd have to superglue the fragments
I hate scammers maybe i'm too honest to believe anyone would do this to a child in the first place!!

[lurvlyloz]

my 2 pennies worht....trwo the phone away. learn a lesson and move on. yes its rubbish...but reporting it to the police probably wont do alot & i wouldnt want the hassle and the worry

[laptop80]

I'd put it down to experience to be honest. There are too many posts on here where people have gone to the police and the offenders have made their life hell - vandalising their property, telling everyone in the neighbourhood they are a 'grass', threats of (or actual) physical violence. Is it worth risking that kind of hassle for you and your family for £40?

I can see how you would be annoyed, so would I, but given the potential problems and the fact the phone in question has now been smashed up, I'd suggest the most rational option is to move on and consider it a lesson learned for your son that things aren't always as they appear and if it's too good to be true it probably is - if he gets the message now then a £40 phone is a cheaper way of learning it than buying a dodgy car or a problematic house.

[StressedSteph]

If you still had the phone, then the letter you wrote through their door would be a very good idea. but sure the police would want the phone and it gets very messy if you haven't got the phone to show them.

Too late now I feel. Just the joy of teenagers i'm afraid

[sistafromanothermista]

Originally Posted by StressedSteph

If you still had the phone, then the letter you wrote through their door would be a very good idea. but sure the police would want the phone and it gets very messy if you haven't got the phone to show them.

Too late now I feel. Just the joy of teenagers i'm afraid

Isn't it just

[owen_money]

My son was recently scammed. He was taking our cow to market when he met a person who said he would give my son some 'magic beans' in exchange for the cow and my son agreed. I went mad when he returned without any money and only these so called 'magic beans' and through them out of the window into the garden, however one of the beans has started to grow.

Teenagers!

[rising from the ashes]

Originally Posted by lurvlyloz

my 2 pennies worht....trwo the phone away. learn a lesson and move on. yes its rubbish...but reporting it to the police probably wont do alot & i wouldnt want the hassle and the worry

Agree .... hopefully he's learned a very valuable lesson.

It's carp but most of us have been scammed at some point or another ..... forget about it!

[DebtClearer]

You just handled stolen goods! Definitely don't sell parts of them on, straight away you realised you should have given all detaiils and the phone to the police, they might have been able to get it back to the owner.

[sistafromanothermista]

Originally Posted by owen_money

My son was recently scammed. He was taking our cow to market when he met a person who said he would give my son some 'magic beans' in exchange for the cow and my son agreed. I went mad when he returned without any money and only these so called 'magic beans' and through them out of the window into the garden, however one of the beans has started to grow.

Teenagers!

He'd probably do this too

[sistafromanothermista]

Originally Posted by DebtClearer

You just handled stolen goods! Definitely don't sell parts of them on, straight away you realised you should have given all detaiils and the phone to the police, they might have been able to get it back to the owner.

I know debtclearer, i'm now a criminal
Thing is i say it was reported 'stolen' it may have been reported lost (just read something on another forum) so i may not be a criminal after all <phew>

[COMPETITIONFANATIC]

Sorry but you are because if somone reports their phone lost and another perosn finds the phone and dosent hand it in to the police this is classed as Theft by finding and is an arrestable offence !! sorry !

from wiki Theft by finding occurs when someone who chances upon an object which seems abandoned takes possession of the object but fails to take steps to establish whether the object is abandoned and not merely lost or unattended.[1] In some jurisdictions the crime is called "larceny by finding" or "stealing by finding

[sistafromanothermista]

Originally Posted by COMPETITIONFANATIC

Sorry but you are because if somone reports their phone lost and another perosn finds the phone and dosent hand it in to the police this is classed as Theft by finding and is an arrestable offence !! sorry !

from wiki Theft by finding occurs when someone who chances upon an object which seems abandoned takes possession of the object but fails to take steps to establish whether the object is abandoned and not merely lost or unattended.[1] In some jurisdictions the crime is called "larceny by finding" or "stealing by finding

Well that's very nice. Considering it's been smashed into 1000 pieces there is not a great deal i can do about it.
Plus i didn't find it. We bought it. Unknowingly . Already reported to police who said nothing about bringing phone into station (before it was smashed)



As an addition. Don't believe everything you read on wiki. It can be edited by ANYONE!!!!!!!