Banking scam

18cc

Yes if the fencer was negligent and their email was hacked then they definitely bear some responsibility! You need to find out if the email came from the fencers actual (hacked) email account or whether it was from someone pretending to be the fencer and using a slightly different email account

SnowTiger

robatwork wrote: »

What's to stop someone (or both parties) pretending to be victims of this kind of fraud?

I think the bank(s) need some time to ensure they aren't the victims.

There would have to be three parties involved.

The third party being the owner of the account the money actually ended up in. They would probably get most attention during an investigation.

If successful, the scam would probably only work once. If it happended a second time, all three parties would probably get Dear John letters from their banks.

There is still an element of trust in banking. When contactless was introduced banks said they would refund incorrect transactions. I think that still stands. I'd guess punters who do it more than once also get a Dear John letter.

soulsaver

SnowTiger wrote: »

There would have to be three parties involved.

The third party being the owner of the account the money actually ended up in. They would probably get most attention during an investigation.

If successful, the scam would probably only work once. If it happended a second time, all three parties would probably get Dear John letters from their banks.

Typically, the 3rd party isn't from the UK, are no longer here & know nothing about the scam... although in most instances it doesn't mean they aren't culpable in some way.

MisterMotivated

It's not for me to decide who is at fault, but it would've set alarm bells ringing for me if someone said their account couldn't accept payments due to being audited.

takman

stowupland4 wrote: »

I am after some advice. I have had my fencing replaced, I received the invoice by email, 30 mins later I received another email asking me to use a different bank account as the first was being audited. I transferred the money by online banking. I replied to the second email saying money has been sent. I got a reply saying money received.
I had a telephone call 5 days later from the fencer saying no money received. He didn't receive my email saying money sent, and he hadnt replied to me that it had been received. However,he did receive an email from me saying the money would arrive in his account in 4 days. This I didn't send. It is now obvious his email account has been hacked, emails have been intercepted and altered. My bank and police fraud have been notified.
My question is should I now pay the fencer again, or wait till till I hear from the bank. He runs a small business and is wanting my cash to do other work. I trust the fencer totally, we are both caught up in this scam. Thank you

How exactly is it obvious that the fencer has had his account hacked?

Considering you seem to fall for obvious scams then how do you know that you haven't given out your email account password in a phishing attempt?
When was the last time you changed your password?.

If someone has access to your account they could have seen the email arrive from the fencer. They then sent you a spoof email which appeared to come from the fencers email address (but very slightly different). You replied to this email but as it was a spoof address it didn't go anywhere. The person then sent the email to fencer saying payment will arrive in 4 days by spoofing your email.

Your very naive assuming its the fencers email account that has been compromised.
This entire scam can actually be carried out simply by the person having knowledge of the email and no access to any email accounts.

antrobus

takman wrote: »

....

Your very naive assuming its the fencers email account that has been compromised.
This entire scam can actually be carried out simply by the person having knowledge of the email and no access to any email accounts.

Agreed.

stowupland4 wrote: »

.... I have had my fencing replaced, I received the invoice by email, 30 mins later I received another email asking me to use a different bank account as the first was being audited. I transferred the money by online banking. I replied to the second email saying money has been sent. I got a reply saying money received.....
I had a telephone call 5 days later from the fencer saying no money received. He didn't receive my email saying money sent, and he hadnt replied to me that it had been received. However,he did receive an email from me saying the money would arrive in his account in 4 days. This I didn't send...

It is clear that both parties have received emails that the other did not send. Therefore it is at least equally likely that the OP's email was 'hacked;.

OP; CHANGE YOUR EMAIL PASSWORD NOW.

As a previous poster noted, the reference to a bank account being audited should have been a BIG RED FLAG.

spenderdave

I agree that in all probability it was the OP email that was hacked and not the fencing supplier. But any email telling you to use a different bank account MUST set the alarm bells ringing, businesses don't change their bank accounts on a whim and certainly if an 'audit' is being carried out it looks suspicious.

Sadly once bitten twice shy.

sully1311

2018 and people are still failing for these....

stowupland4

Thank you all for your obsevations.

JuicyJesus

antrobus wrote: »

It is clear that both parties have received emails that the other did not send. Therefore it is at least equally likely that the OP's email was 'hacked;.

One or both or neither, really. Emails are easy to spoof. There's a reason they're not considered a secure method of communication.

It's trivial to set an email client up to send emails from any email address you choose. You can send emails which look like they come from [EMAIL="t.may@number10.gov"]t.may@number10.gov.uk[/EMAIL] (and they'll probably make more sense than the real thing to boot.)