Is this a scam?

benterz222

Was recently attempting to sell my Macbook Retina on Gumtree. A chap rang me up who was interested, so we arranged a meeting. He inspected the laptop, before making a phone to his 'Dad' who had apparently transferred the money to my account (from Lloyd's to Natwest), but it would take 2 hours and he had to catch a train, so he supplied with a 'screenshot' of the transaction successful screen from his Dad's online banking.

To cut a long story short, the money never arrived, and thankfully, I never gave him the laptop. I have a screenshot he provided me with although as I'm a new user I can't post it up. Can someone else post it for other's to see if I message you the link? Is there anything on this to indicate it's fraudulent?

imoneyop

As the money never arrived I would say it is certainly a scam - with the advent of Faster Payments, transfers are often immediate.

He was obviously hoping to find a seller who was naive enough to believe his !!!! and bull story and hand over the laptop on the basis the money was on the way.

If you're dealing through a site like gumtree then the only safe way is cash only.

Zedicus

I would say that is 99.9999% certain to be a scam.

If the person was genuine he would be desperate to make arrangements to get his money back if you didn't hand over the laptop as transfers are not reversible.

PZH

imoneyop wrote: »

If you're dealing through a site like gumtree then the only safe way is cash only.

Totally and utterly agree with this.

Zedicus wrote: »

I would say that is 99.9999% certain to be a scam.

I would have said 100% Scam

shaun_from_Africa

If you still have the screenshot, does it show the bank account number that the money was allegedly sent from?
If so, try doing a Google search for this and you may possibly find if it has happened to other people.

Jeff_Bridges_hair

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

If you still have the screenshot, does it show the bank account number that the money was allegedly sent from?
If so, try doing a Google search for this and you may possibly find if it has happened to other people.

If themoney never arrived then why would it show in his account where it was sent from?

Azari

Jeff_Bridges_hair wrote: »

If themoney never arrived then why would it show in his account where it was sent from?

He saw a screen shot or the originating account that was supposed to show the money transferred. You would expect that to have the account number present.

Although as I assume he was shown it on a phone or tablet I don't suppose he still has access to it.

bod1467

benterz222 wrote: »

I have a screenshot he provided me with although as I'm a new user I can't post it up.?

Upload the screenshot to an image hosting site (Tinypic, Photobucket, etc.) then post the link to it in a reply here, but post the link WITHOUT the http:// part.

shaun_from_Africa

Jeff_Bridges_hair wrote: »

If themoney never arrived then why would it show in his account where it was sent from?

Even though it never arrived, the screenshot may well have shown the account details that it allegedly originated from.

imoneyop

The OP PM'd me a link to the screenshot (on photobucket) and asked if I could post it on his behalf.

Unfortunately mediasharing websites are blocked by my employer, so I can't see what the image is - and I'm not prepared to post something that I can't be sure won't cause me problems with MSE.

If he hasn't posted it himself (I suggested he remove the http:// and try again) by the time I get home then; assuming it doesn't break forum rules; I'll put the link up.

bod1467

I can access photobucket - PM it to me and I'll check and post.