Facebook Marketplace Item Paid by BACS

Bollo2019

Hi,
I have messaged a private seller on Facebook Marketplace and sent a BACS bank transfer payment to cover the cost of the item and the postage - however it hasn't arrived and the seller isn't responding to me anymore. Can anyone please advise what are my next steps - complain to the bank, report to the police, write off the money as stupidly placed trust?

KatrinaWaves

Bollo2019 wrote: »

Hi,
I have messaged a private seller on Facebook Marketplace and sent a direct debit bank transfer payment to cover the cost of the item and the postage - however it hasn't arrived and the seller isn't responding to me anymore. Can anyone please advise what are my next steps - complain to the bank, report to the police, write off the money as stupidly placed trust?

Its not a direct debit, its just a bank transfer (so there is no DD guarantee)

You can contact ActionFraud, theyre unlikely to do anything tbh.

You could definitely ask your bank nicely to try and reclaim it, but if this is a 'professional scammer' the money could be long gone.

its likely to be a 'chalk it up to experience' case, but worth trying your bank. never send a bank transfer, its just giving a stranger money. Always try and use paypal which affords some buyer protection.

CardinalWolsey

I presume you mean you've made a faster payment / BACS payment - i.e. you told the bank to send money from your account to the other person's account (by using your banking app or online banking)?

I hope it wasn't for a lot of money. You've more than likely lost it. It's like meeting someone in a pub who tells you they've got a phone for sale. Give them the cash and then they'll go home and post it to you.

The best you can do is report it to Action Fraud, but you'll need to write this one off to experience.

Bollo2019

Yeah sorry wrong terminology - it's a BACS payment.

So, complain to bank, flag with Action Fraud - are the police not worth alerting to it?

Thanks.

KatrinaWaves

Bollo2019 wrote: »

Yeah sorry wrong terminology - it's a BACS payment.

So, complain to bank, flag with Action Fraud - are the police not worth alerting to it?

Thanks.

Its fraud more than a police issue, the police would just refer you to AF. I imagine you don't have much to go on for the police though, as if this is a pro none of the info you will have is accurate. You can't just go to the police and say you gave some money to 'someone' and you'd like them to find them and get it back.

The police don't have time to deal with actual serious crimes, they are not going to have time to deal with some small scale facebook scamming sadly.

Bollo2019

I appreciate that, it's more a matter of principle, to think if the guy is doing it constantly then it could really impact someone who is a lot more tight with money.

It's funny if it is a fake account though, the guy has had a FB profile for years, has hundreds upon hundreds of photos, family accounts etc - it is the most legit account you could imagine.I personally think it's more that he's a bare faced charlatan.

waamo

How much have you lost?

Bollo2019

£20 lost, which is by no means a huge amount - but I do potentially have a lot of cost with a house move, repairs, mortgage, birthdays coming up etc. I could do without losing money for nothing but I'd just rather know that the guy isn't able to do it on a worse scale to others.

pinkshoes

For future reference, Facebook is for cash on collection, or payment by PayPal for named goods when having something delivered.

If they refuse either lf these then walk away.

At the very best, you might be able to pursuade your bank to revese the transaction, but essentially you have handed cash to someone that you know nothing about.

waamo

Bollo2019 wrote: »

£20 lost, which is by no means a huge amount - but I do potentially have a lot of cost with a house move, repairs, mortgage, birthdays coming up etc. I could do without losing money for nothing but I'd just rather know that the guy isn't able to do it on a worse scale to others.

At least it's not a huge amount. It's still a loss and annoying but hopefully not damaging.

Sadly at such a low value I can't see the police throwing many resources at it.

Bollo2019

waamo wrote: »

At least it's not a huge amount. It's still a loss and annoying but hopefully not damaging.

Sadly at such a low value I can't see the police throwing many resources at it.

The INJUSTICE! :rotfl:

It's just that - annoying. I'm not that arsed about my £20 for the police to drop the murder investigation and track the guy down, it's when it's someone struggling and needs one of the other things that he's "selling" for their kid's birthday with nothing else to buy them.