Scammed via bank transfer!? Help

Cuilean

!!!!!! wrote: »

Are you trying to imply that the OP should lie to his bank?

No. Not sure where you got that idea from.

Lomast

The bank can do nothing more than ask the recipient to repay the money they have no power to take it back if the answer is no

theonlywayisup

DamageCase wrote: »

Why has the money conpletely gone if i said it was sent to a wrong person? Read above post^

The above post isn't your scenario.

Your money was sent to sort code 123456 account number 00886644 because that is where YOU sent it. It wasn't an error, you didn't mean it to go to 00885533 but even if you did there is little chance of a resolution without the recipient playing ball. The post you refer me to is not what has happened to you. Don't clutch at straws.

GabbaGabbaHey

The OP should report the matter to:

• ActionFraud
• Gumtree's fraud team
• Their bank's fraud department
• The recipient's bank's fraud department

Then get on with life, treating the matter as a learning experience, as there is no realistic chance of getting their money back.

Art_Vandelay_2

The above is good advice - report to ActionFraud, first and foremost.

Personally I wouldn't bother with the Police at all. A similar thing happened to a friend of mine, and the Police clearly told them they would refuse to trace someone despite the fact, presumably, they had left a paper trail via opening the bank account. The reason given was: data protection. even for a thief. (and they wonder why the number of scams via bank transfer is multiplying by millions every year??!)

DamageCase

So you guys are telling me that despite that the person committed a crime, there's nothing remotely I can do?

pinkshoes

DamageCase wrote: »

So you guys are telling me that despite that the person committed a crime, there's nothing remotely I can do?

Paying by bank transfer is like handing over cash to someone...

You willingly handed over money to someone you didnt know, which was very risky, so need to take some responsibility for your actions here...

theonlywayisup

DamageCase wrote: »

So you guys are telling me that despite that the person committed a crime, there's nothing remotely I can do?

No, you've been given good advice about reporting it above.

What you won't get, is your money back. As pinkshoes says, it's akin to paying by cash. You sent the money to the account, you weren't forced to. You have to accept that you didn't do your research and understand the repercussions of sending money by BT to a person you had never met.

forgotmyname

DamageCase wrote: »

So you guys are telling me that despite that the person committed a crime, there's nothing remotely I can do?

You gave a stranger money, what do you want the banks to do? If they contact the seller then they just need to say you bought something and you received it.

If paying strangers you need a better payment method.

soolin

DamageCase wrote: »

So you guys are telling me that despite that the person committed a crime, there's nothing remotely I can do?

That's rather an odd statement, what do you imagine a victim of a crime actually gets?

You have been told all the places you can report it to, exactly as you would any other crime. That however does not equate to getting your money back. It's exactly the same as having say your wallet stolen while you are in the pub (as happened to my son), it was reported and that was the end of it, he lost the wallet, his money and everything else in his wallet. In his case it was stolen, in your case you willingly handed the money over.