"friend" has defrauded me - advice please

vij

Thank you for reading this I need some help.

A "friend" approached me with the offer of flights to canada to visit another friend of ours next year she stated she was getting these flights as a family concessiova a cousin who works for BA. I have emails though our work we also work for an insurance and holidays company though not BA and also text messages and emails. stating how much money she wants for the tickets and also a text message stating that she has the tickets. We have aslo had many conversations about this. I have paid her a sum of £200 which was to cover the tickets and overnight accom the day before the flight (this price did approx add up to similar staff concession offers I have experienced before so I saw no reason to doubt the price) I have no actual reciept of having given her the money but I do have text messages saying how much before and also text message stating she has the tickets so a before and after in effect. She has emailed me through our work email system which is very secure and therefore she will not be able to say someone has used her email to "scam" this on her behalf.

It has come to light she has told a liarge number of lies to myself, my partner and lots of our other collegues and also "borrowed" another £100 from another member of staff who is having trouble getting it back.

I have approached her partner who has also said she has issues with lying and she has admitted by email she has lied about may of the other things and agreed to stop lying to me. However she is now avoiding me and not replying to any of my texts or emails and Im not too sure what to do from here.

I know if she has lied about of all of this the company we work for will take it very seriously, I have sent her emails stating I either need to see proof of the booking or we need to make a repayment plan of the money I have paid her rather than resorting to official channels or involving a third party.

I started by asking very nicely for details of the flights as I needed to arrange my travel insurance and also what documents I would need to take with me fort medication etc.

I need to know where I go from here and what I can do as Im 99.9% certain that I have fallen victim to a scam here or that she is very unwell and doesnt realise what she has done. However I want my money back or prrof that she has not ripped me off and if she has booked tickets I need to cancel or confirm all of my own travel details as I cannot trust what I am being told.

Please help me.

Thanks

hollydays

In the first instance,tell her partner you want the money back by a certain date or you will go to the Police.(actually I think this is a civil matter,not a Police matter) He then may also be a bit more forthcoming about what she is obtaining the money for,i wonder why he isnt offering to pay you back,so i wonder if he is colluding in it? (Take someone else with you who has a no-nonsense attitude.)She/they may have a problem-and is desperate for this money for whatever-drink or drugs?The lying is secondary,but expect more lies.I could suggest the County Court-but you cant get blood out of a stone.

pinkshoes

The ticket should be booked in your name, so tell her you need to see the booking by <date>, and be given all the details, otherwise you want a full refund.

At least her partner sounds cooperative and might be able to explain to her the seriousness of the situation.

zappster1966

We had a very similar situation at work, a girl was selling tickets for a pop concert ... no tickets were forthcoming, the concert came and went and 7 people were left out of pocket. They were each out by £30-ish.

The girl involved came out with a variety of excuses, saying she paid out and was herself out of pocket etc. One member of staff complained to management and she got suspended from work .... then went off sick on full pay (the "stress" involved) and was subsequently dismissed .... and the rest of the staff were given oral warnings for trading on work premises. Only one person got her money back, by brassing it out and going to the girls house and refusing to leave her doorstep until she coughed up. While this was all going on the atmosphere in the office was poisonous.

I guess you could do a small claims procedure at the local court if all else fails. Pinkshoes gives good advice, maybe the partner could help resolve things ?

vij

success to a point, I have contacted her partner in writing and he has agreed that I will get my money back on the last day in November great from that point of view, but I actually feel bad even though I dont think I have done anything wrong. I dont like the fact I have had to go plain simple and heavy handed with option of proof. payment plan, money back or court. Hopefully this will now be resolved thanks for support.

mum2one

I dont mean to sound unkind, but this is at least teh 2nd thread you have started with exactly the same opening, yes I sure as I replied to your other thread as well as a few others

ekkygirl

mum2one wrote: »

I dont mean to sound unkind, but this is at least teh 2nd thread you have started with exactly the same opening, yes I sure as I replied to your other thread as well as a few others

What point are you making?

Are you objecting to the opening line or the fact that the OP has posted before? Is it a problem to post the same thing twice?

The OP did apologise on the second one for posting again

mum2one

ekkygirl wrote: »

What point are you making?

Are you objecting to the opening line or the fact that the OP has posted before? Is it a problem to post the same thing twice?

The OP did apologise on the second one for posting again

im not objecting to anybody posting, but I brought up the point that this was the 2nd thread on exactly the same subject, - how many times does it need to be discussed. Is he rubbing salt into the wounds of the person concerned?

eyelinerprincess

OP may have had comp freezing or the page not responding and had the same thread posted twice by accident. I don't believe they did it intentionally, I've done it myself a few times the day after the boards were down, I managed to post the same post four or five times as it kept on breaking...