Scammed.......

[sistafromanothermista]

Just a quick word of warning.....
My son told me he wanted to buy a mobile phone 2nd hand and that there is a section on facebook where you can buy and sell locally. He found one for £40 and seeing as it was just down the road handed over £40 cash.

Got home and realised there was no sim so went and purchased one from the shop (£1) popped new sim in....nothing....usually a few txts come through with the new settings on so we waited 24hrs.

After this time and still no txtx i called Tmobile for him and after 2HRS (most of which was them trying to get me to purchase a bolt on for said phone) they told me it had been blocked and therefore had been reposrted lost or stolen!!!!!

Obviously when contacting the 'seller' they said it was 'nothing to do with them' and they were 'selling it for a friend' Yeh right.

Valuable lesson learnt for my 15 yr old!!!

[DCFC79]

yep its a problem with buying phones off ebay, not all sellers are out to scam you but you need to be careful. Could he not open a claim ?

[sistafromanothermista]

I am so naive!!! i was blummin scammers at least it was only £40 i suppose could've been worse

[Soubrette]

Contact the seller and say that you are very sorry but for insurance reasons you need to get a crime number from the police so will have to pass on their details to the police, assure them that you will say that they were selling for a friend but unfortunately you have to give all the facts in order to get a crime number.

[sistafromanothermista]

Originally Posted by Soubrette

Contact the seller and say that you are very sorry but for insurance reasons you need to get a crime number from the police so will have to pass on their details to the police, assure them that you will say that they were selling for a friend but unfortunately you have to give all the facts in order to get a crime number.

I tried this, but the only contact was via Facebook and they've now 'blocked' us!!! cheek!
Obviously i know where she lives but don't really fancy a confrontation..

[DCFC79]

Was it bought via ebay then ?

[sistafromanothermista]

No, facebook. At least on Ebay we would've had some sort of security (one hopes)

[merlot123]

Sorry to hear about the phone, but one thing to remember is - if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

Report it to the police, you must know where they live if you collected the phone.

[sistafromanothermista]

I think i will Merlot (How do i do that?) I've never had to contact the police about something like this before

Put it this way, a harsh lesson has been learnt that's for sure...

[DCFC79]

Originally Posted by sistafromanothermista

No, facebook. At least on Ebay we would've had some sort of security (one hopes)

Ah right, good luck with it.

[sistafromanothermista]

I've just come across a 'contact us' form on a police site so i've done that we'll see what happens.

[merlot123]

Originally Posted by sistafromanothermista

I think i will Merlot (How do i do that?) I've never had to contact the police about something like this before

Put it this way, a harsh lesson has been learnt that's for sure...

I don't know as I have never phoned the emergency services, but I found this:

http://www.police.uk/101/

[moofychops]

Hi,
Next time, if there is a next time, always pay using Paypal, then you have 60 days to complain to Ebay and probably win your money back. Paying cash means Ebay wash their hands of the deal..
If you live in a biggish town there are phone shops who can repair phones for a moderate fee.

[Takeaway_Addict]

Originally Posted by moofychops

Hi,
Next time, if there is a next time, always pay using Paypal, then you have 60 days to complain to Ebay and probably win your money back. Paying cash means Ebay wash their hands of the deal..
If you live in a biggish town there are phone shops who can repair phones for a moderate fee.

It wasn't ebay......

[Walaboobah]

Originally Posted by sistafromanothermista

I tried this, but the only contact was via Facebook and they've now 'blocked' us!!! cheek!
Obviously i know where she lives but don't really fancy a confrontation..

Now if they've blocked you that raises my suspicions!

Report them to the police and see if she shops her "friend"

[emsywoo123]

Originally Posted by Takeaway_Addict

It wasn't ebay......

OP can you change your first post as you do say eBay on there so it's not clear

[R P W]

So you bought a phone from someone on Facebook that you don't know? I would compare that to buying it from a bloke down the pub or from a car boot sale!

[Norfolk_Jim]

Originally Posted by R P W

So you bought a phone from someone on Facebook that you don't know? I would compare that to buying it from a bloke down the pub or from a car boot sale!

That isn't a very helpful response to the poster. If I had £1 for every time I'd done something silly I could probably pay off one or more of my debts.

No doubt the poster knows they've been silly, but whats done is done. As my Granny taught me "If we were all wise there would be no fools " and "Its easy to be wise after the event".

OP you have been scammed. Theres a lot of crooks in this world and a lot of people who take advantage anf have no shame or conscience.

Yes you could report this to Police. It probably won't get your money back though. You could see it as an expensive lesson and be wiser next time you see a bargain.

Dont get down on yourself - I get scammed all the time and I'm far from stupid - just foolishly trusting - tending to think people are honest when they are not.

Do you have a really big friend who could ask for your money back? Maybe a bit late if Plod are already alerted.

Not suggesting you do this but there are naughty ways to unlock the unlockable phone - or you could sell it for parts on E-Bay as not working - Only now plod will want it because it looks like stolen goods and will be evidence

You do have my sympathy, really do feel for you.

[jules888]

Same happened to me years ago on e bay.Paid with paypal though so got money back.Also sold a phone on Amazon and never got paid for it and it went to Africa!

[sunflower]

send her a letter saying if you dont hear from her within 10 days you will be giving the police her address

(dont give her your address, she can unblock you and contact you via facebook)