PLEASE. Need help over a scam.

oscart1111

Hi All,

I am a student, who has recently been scammed.

Let me tell you what happened,

I was approached by someone on the mobile selling app "Depop" (similar to eBay), asking if i would be interested in letting him transfer monies from his other paypal accounts to mine (for a small fee).

As a student needing money, i thought this seems safe, he doesn't require any passwords of mine or access to my account so i allowed him to transfer monies from other paypals to mine.
Remember this guy had told me that the money from other paypals were his own money and accounts, i firstly received £385.00, i was told to transfer the money from my paypal into my bank account (which i did), and i then was advised to transfer 280.00 to the scammer which i did.

I then realised afterwards that the pay pal accounts that were paying into my account were in fact NOT his accounts, they were real people who had been advertised a product online (by the scammer) and was never going to receive it. Since the money for the goods and services had been paid into my paypal, when the buyers dispute or escalate that the item had not been received, the scammer would get away with it. This leaves me being the one to refund them the original cost.

So the 385.00 paid to me, i have had to refund from my personal pay pal & bank account, i am only a student i have been used in a scam unknowingly.
The 280.00 i transferred to the scammer i cannot obtain back, i have called and text him but he will not give me the money back.

I have contacted PayPal, my bank, his bank, local police station and Action Fraud, all of these companies didn't seem to be able to help me.
Action Fraud say they may investigate the case further within 4-6 weeks, but i am 280.00 short now, i have been left scammed.

I would really appreciate some help.

Thank you all in advance.

bxboards

oscart1111 wrote: »

As a student needing money, i thought this seems safe,

Seriously - you really really thought some random person contacting you seemed safe?

You do realise you have got involved in money landering here don't you?

I don't honestly have a lot of sympathy with basic lack of common sense - sorry if that sounds harsh, but that is how I feel.

Honestly speaking, no one here can help - if you reported it to Action Fraud it's all you can do. You won't get your money back I'm afraid.

PasturesNew

Paypal money isn't "your money" for a LONG time. It's never "safe" to think that money in your Paypal is "yours" for a LONG time as there are many reasons/ways that the money can be clawed back.

I'm sorry you've been duped. But remember in future that [a] anything involving you parting with money is likely to be a scam anything involving strangers (or even vague associates/mates/blokes down the pub) and money is to be avoided at all costs.

soolin

This is a scam that used to be a bit ore common, before people cottoned on to how blatant it is. I'm sorry you were caught out but at least the amount was relatively small and may perhaps save you from a bigger scam in future .

If you have a quick read of the paypal emails you receive, and also the payment info in your paypal account it is quite clear how to protect yourself. It might also be useful to have a quick read of the sticky postage thread on here which explains what you need to protect the money you receive from paypal.

ballisticbrian

Just let it be a warning to others, that's the only positive thing I can say.

glentoran99

oscart1111 wrote: »

Hi All,

I am a student, who has recently been scammed.

Let me tell you what happened,

I was approached by someone on the mobile selling app "Depop" (similar to eBay), asking if i would be interested in letting him transfer monies from his other paypal accounts to mine (for a small fee).

As a student needing money, i thought this seems safe, he doesn't require any passwords of mine or access to my account so i allowed him to transfer monies from other paypals to mine.
Remember this guy had told me that the money from other paypals were his own money and accounts, i firstly received £385.00, i was told to transfer the money from my paypal into my bank account (which i did), and i then was advised to transfer 280.00 to the scammer which i did.

I then realised afterwards that the pay pal accounts that were paying into my account were in fact NOT his accounts, they were real people who had been advertised a product online (by the scammer) and was never going to receive it. Since the money for the goods and services had been paid into my paypal, when the buyers dispute or escalate that the item had not been received, the scammer would get away with it. This leaves me being the one to refund them the original cost.

So the 385.00 paid to me, i have had to refund from my personal pay pal & bank account, i am only a student i have been used in a scam unknowingly.
The 280.00 i transferred to the scammer i cannot obtain back, i have called and text him but he will not give me the money back.

I have contacted PayPal, my bank, his bank, local police station and Action Fraud, all of these companies didn't seem to be able to help me.
Action Fraud say they may investigate the case further within 4-6 weeks, but i am 280.00 short now, i have been left scammed.

I would really appreciate some help.

Thank you all in advance.

The first question I would have asked is why would he want to do this??

Kernow666

word of warning to OP if you get offered any magic beans by an old man in the future don't buy them

pinkshoes

Your money is gone.

Forget it and move on.

There was nothing the slightest bit safe about this transaction, and it required some basic common sense to know this.

Resisting temptation to make comment about student being supposedly bright yet being duped so easily...

You need to take accountability for your own stupidity here!

Mistral001

This is very unfortunate. The OP describes that he was doing this for a small fee. It would appear that it was for £105. I could see how £105 for a few minutes work might be tempting, but you know the old saying. "If it seems to be too good to be......"etc. I am sure the Op is fed up hearing that one. Live and learn and move on. A good lesson to learn early in life. Some people have had to learn it later in life with their life savings.