Is this too good to be true?

Zweitaktmotor

Welcome on board. You are not alone.

alishahs

Screwd, you are in the same situation as my friend. You hve bee told the same story as my friends and I can recall him mentioing all these names. His last contact was somewhre last weekend a well.

hey should not be allowed to play with people's money. Anyone who has been scammed should do the following:

Contact your banks. It is likely they will help almost everyone who used a credit card where as they might help if someone used a debit card as this depends on factors such as if you are protected against fraudulant card use.

Contact the Police. Prepare a thorough written statement alongwith photocopies of all correspondence with FDI and provide that to the police.

Contact your local Trading standards agency, providing them with the same details as ou provided the police.

Generally, if you are in a dispute with a trader, the banks suggest that you should contact the trader. If the trader vanishes then you can contact the bank for a refund. They will refund if you have a card protection policy. If they don't help then your only hope is the police in conjunction with Trading Standards Agency which will most likely end up in court. This is the best option to get these con artists but the slowest option for victims.

AnonIdiot

Well I have had some good news today, I contacted the following,

Office of Fair Trading Consumer Direct Line on 08454040506

I explained what had happened, they have told me to contact my credit card company, and quote section 75 of the consumer credit act to them, this makes them liable not only for the money we paid up front, but also for our solicitor fee's, as it is classed as a breach of contract and consequential loss, my wife duly phoned up and they have agreed to this, also in regards to the £99 most people have also paid, you can advise your bank, if you have paid from a debit card that is, that you wish to apply for a chargeback for the amount, it may take some time, but you should get it.

I have contacted the police and will be preparing a statement along with a full list of all documents for them, I urge everyone else to do the same, what I have been told is that the case would be then carried forward by the metropolitan police as it is in their area.

As to our investor, it seems she may well be genuine, at least according to the firm of solictors down in London, whether or not this is the case, I need to look into it a little bit more.

Top and bottom of it is people, don't lose hope and simply give up, fight these barstewards and get your money back!

Oh and another thing, I also contacted the insolvency service to see if this so called company had been wound up, it has not, and according to them its still trading...

Catblue

AnonIdiot wrote: »

Well I have had some good news today, I contacted the following,

Office of Fair Trading Consumer Direct Line on 08454040506

I explained what had happened, they have told me to contact my credit card company, and quote section 75 of the consumer credit act to them, this makes them liable not only for the money we paid up front, but also for our solicitor fee's, as it is classed as a breach of contract and consequential loss, my wife duly phoned up and they have agreed to this, also in regards to the £99 most people have also paid, you can advise your bank, if you have paid from a debit card that is, that you wish to apply for a chargeback for the amount, it may take some time, but you should get it.

I have contacted the police and will be preparing a statement along with a full list of all documents for them, I urge everyone else to do the same, what I have been told is that the case would be then carried forward by the metropolitan police as it is in their area.

As to our investor, it seems she may well be genuine, at least according to the firm of solictors down in London, whether or not this is the case, I need to look into it a little bit more.

Top and bottom of it is people, don't lose hope and simply give up, fight these barstewards and get your money back!

Oh and another thing, I also contacted the insolvency service to see if this so called company had been wound up, it has not, and according to them its still trading...

Don't be too hard on yourself - the only reason these scammers make money is that they are very convincing.

Good to hear that you will be getting at least the majority of your money back - others will find your advice very useful I'm sure. Always great to hear about MSEers fighting back.

AnonIdiot

One thing I have forgot about, the person I spoke to at the consumer direct office, is also going to be getting the OFT involved, (Office Of Fair Trading)

screwed

Hi folks

I can see this is going to be alot of work hopefully it will have its rewards. I only used my debit card for some and my girlfriend stumped up the rest none of the house sale was in her name so is she entitled to try and get the cost refunded.

I have also found out through my own ways of digging to little to late that the buyers solicitors never once spoke to my buyer, or had contact for 2 months with him as he was laways out of the country and first drict contacted them to say all paper work is to be returned to them but my buyer was real as that solicitor has dealt with him before.

we all need to get together on this to make sure we win our fees back strength in number and all that

AnonIdiot

It would be interesting to know who everybody's buyers solicitors were, as I am starting to think this company may have used the same one, as I cannot even get a reply from solictor's as to whether or not the buyer even came to see them in person... I would have thought a reputable firm of solictors would be interested in knowing they may have been the victim of fraud as well...

Zweitaktmotor

Grindeys LLL in Stoke-on-Trent

not_loaded

silverlady3 wrote: »

…Surprisingly, although they took money from me illegally, my bank could/would not get that money refunded from their account to mine. Whose side are the banks on now? Obviously fraudsters who get away with far too much.

The reason the banks lack interest is because they already have these losses covered in their charges. The very same reason of course that a lot of shoplifters walk away unchallenged.

We apparently have to face the fact that people are falling for scams all the time and we all have to pay for it. I don’t think anyone on here is actually laughing at you if you fell for it. Me, I’m annoyed, as you are all costing us money with your willingness to hand over key personal information to anybody and everybody.

The clue is in the thread heading… :rolleyes:

screwed

just in response about the solicitor, mine to was using Grindeys in stoke on trent. He apparently changed to this solicitor after using first directs choice and they were crap.
also i was told by lee smith that my buyer actually paid his fees up front to the solicitors and he had aleady proved he had the cash to first direct and he had bought many many times, and that he was in the process of buying several properties including mine at the same time. hmmmm do pople on here no what there buyers names were etc:mad: