Ripped off via Gumtree (1)

truparel

Guys I really need your help, and once you have read what has happened, there will be comments such as 'it's Gumtree, what did you expect would happen', 'You rushed and made silly mistakes', 'you are dumb'....trust me I know all this and seriously am kicking myself and mainly for having faith in people. Its heartbreaking. But please any advice on what I can do as am now lost and all this cos I was trying to suprise my partner!! Oh to make things worst, it happened twice on the same day. See Ripped off via Gumtree (2) for second story. Here's what happened:

Found a seller of Beyonce Concert tickets on gumtree. His story was that him and his girlfriend had both been successful at buying tickets online with O2 priority, he had 4 standing tickets for £100 each. He said he had the ticket confirmation emails and when the tickets came through via email (as he had requested for them to arrive via email rather than post) he said he would forward all emails as they came. He said he couldn't forward any emails over until I had paid either by bank transaction or in hand.
We were both concerned about being scammed although all I asked really is if these were genuine tickets, and he expressed that they were genuine. He was selling them at £100 each so that he was making a profit but not as much as what most people were asking because £150 was a ridiculous price to ask - he had been scammed in the past by buyers who he had emailed the ticket confirmation over before receiving the payment and later found that the buyer had turned up at the concert with forged tickets under his name and purchase. He said he was in Eastbourne, Surrey and that day I was also closeby, in Crawley. I suggested maybe we could meet as he expressed that he wanted to finalise the deal that day as he needed the money. He was happy to meet after work but I was a bit busy and I didn’t feel like meeting the seller in person so went ahead with bank transfer at a bank branch –wish I had met him now.
I notified him that the transaction for all 4 tickets had gone through and texted him my email address for him to start forwarding emails once he received the money. But hours later he still hadn’t seen the money come through into his account. He sounded quite anxious, as if worried that I hadn’t paid him as if I wasn’t sure if I wanted the tickets or not, that’s what his tone sounded like. I told him the money had gone through unless he hadn’t given me the correct bank details. This was late night, so it was only till the next morning when he still couldn’t see the money in his account that he checked if he had given me the correct details. He eventually responded to inform me that he had given me the completely wrong details and he didn’t know whos account it was.
We spoke on the phone and he was very apologetic and he explained that he had used his iphone instead of his Blackberry to text and he thinks it had auto typed in the wrong number (although I sort of believed him I didn’t think iphones could autotype numbers as well as words, but I thought maybe he had copied and pasted the wrong numbers or something like that). I expressed that I couldn’t pay him yet as I wanted to get the money back first but I was a definite buyer of his Beyonce tickets. I asked for his name then, I didn’t write it down thinking that I would remember it, but I didn’t – yes, stupid me. He didn’t hesitate to give his full name even though I asked only for a surname. He was completely understanding and said yes it is my fault that this has happened, I will keep the tickets until this issue has been resolved and we will just keep in contact. He gave me his real bank account no and sort code and we agreed to keep in contact. That’s where we left things. Then a week later when I went to contact my bank to chase up my money I texted the Beyonce seller just to keep him updated on the status. I heard no response but a response wasn’t necessary so didn’t think anything. A few days later till now (for one week) I have been trying to get through to his mobile but it keeps given the sound of phone disconnected. No voicemail or busy signal. A few days ago I have also been trying to call by other phones than mine, and same thing. It’s been 3 weeks since the day I made the transaction. I have two sortcodes and account no one he claims is his real one and one is completely someone elses. Both are RBS, both have similar beginnings of the sortcode and acc no, and he did sound Scottish and his name also sounded Scottish but I have forgotten it. He claims to live and work in Eastbourne, Surrey. Since our last phonecall the day after the transaction I have not heard anything from him and since trying to call him I cannot reach his number. He has not emailed me to say something is wrong with his phone or ask how things are going, so all I can think right now is that maybe I have been scammed. I don’t want to think that is the case but this is what I want to ask you – do you think this sounds like a scam, and is there any way I can chase up both account owners, get a name and/address?
I contacted my bank straight away and all they could do they say is ask for a full return via RBS but it means waiting for RBS to hear back from their customer and that customer to give the permission to return the money. My bank Nationwide is still waiting to hear back. Can I get my money back without having to get permission from the RBS customer?


Please please help, any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanking you in advance

soolin

Sorry, I cannot read that without punctuation. It would be easier if you typed out just the basics in a time line format.

As per my response on your other thread though bank transfers cannot be recalled, they are a marvellous idea for a scammer as there is nothing you can do unless you can track down a proper name and geographic address for the seller and go to small claims.

To be scammed once is a shame, to be scammed twice suggests that perhaps you should stop reading Gumtree and stop buying things until you have an understanding of the basics. Gumtree specifically warn about these scams just read their help pages.

Herongull

As I said in relation to your other post, call the police (on their non-emergency 101 number) and report this crime. It may not help you recover the money - I suspect the fraudster has used a false name and address on his bank account - but you never know - but may help prevent further victims.

Please don't keep giving your money away to scammers and fraudsters like this. Donate to charity instead. Giving money to fraudsters encourages further crimes.

DCFC79

For gig tickets Id only buy tickets from a reputable source eg a well known ticket seller.

truparel

Thanks for your responses and I will contact the police. Unfortunately that day was my first and definitely last day of using Gumtree. Unfortunately not once but twice scammed in the same day.
Herongull, always and will donate, just my faith in people right now is disappointing. Thanks again

Herongull

Don't lose your faith in people. In my experience most people are decent, honest and kind in their dealings with others (including strangers).

I have bought and sold things on ebay, and these transactions nearly always involved people who were fair and honest (although there are certain situations where you need to be careful on ebay as well).

The problem is that certain specific situations (eg buying tickets on gumtree without the transactions taking place in person) are shark-infested waters.

Go swimming on a regular beach and you will (nearly always) be fine.