I paid for a mobile phone via bank transfer. Nothing delivered.

tempus_fugit

DCFC79 wrote: »

Just dont buy a phone via Gumtree.


Why did you choose Gumtree, was it cheaper than ebay ?

There's nothing wrong with using Gumtree, but it's meant to be for face-to-face transactions not sending stuff and paying for them via bank transfer. It works very well if you want to sell stuff locally.

deadendwaterfall

MarkN88 wrote: »

Same card as far as i remember, this was early 2016.
It was retrieved straight away from the ATM as it was the ATM in the branch I used.

It's just I've read on here that sometimes, the machine doesn't just retain the card, but destroys it at the same time, on purpose.

RockandGrohl

I've rather unfortunately fallen for the same type of scam, but worse:

a) I didn't acquire any phone number, proof of address or otherwise, and
b) I sent funds to an account which belongs to Arro Money, a notorious pre-paid card service which is often set up with fake ID for all kinds of scam purposes.

I rang up my bank less than 30 minutes after the payment was sent and have received a text, today, saying "Nothing can be done, case close" (to that affect anyway)

I've since referred this to their complaints department as I feel like they can't have properly investigated in 24 hours, that they're just closing the case because they can't be bothered. If that fails I'll go to Ombudsman.

Surely banks have better checks in place so that people can't just willy-nilly send money off to Pre-paid accounts.

Before anyone jumps in, I fully admit I was in the wrong. I should've insisted on Paypal. Christ, this is the first scam I ever fell for in 20+ years of using the Internet. How did he do it?

A) His price was ever so slightly cheaper than others
The pictures were lifted from a forum (I assume) so the product looked genuine
C) He seemed to have a decent knowledge of the product including warranty details
D) He gave a further, small discount upon my repeat inquiry on the item, which put me on the backfoot, so to speak
E) Because I felt like he was doing me a favour, I didn't question his unwillingness to use Paypal
F) He explained away Paypal by saying he unlinked his bank account, therefore he can receive money but only spend it online and it would be an inconvenience.
G) His name and bank account looked UK originated.

All in all, pretty convincing and I paid £155 for a GTX 1070 I will never receive. GUTTED. I've just blown over £1,000 on an engagement ring so my account wasn't teeming with cash and now I have even less and nothing to show for it :'(

eDicky

How can you try to put the blame on the bank for sending money according to your instructions? It was purely your mistake, to make any complaint is totally ridiculous.

Zanderman

RockandGrohl wrote: »

.......... How did he do it?..........

He used the oldest trick in the (online banking) book - persuaded you to pay by bank transfer.

Not sure why you say it was 'pretty convincing' - it's a very well-known scam, doesn't matter what the account was (irrelevant that it's a pre-paid card account). You could transfer to it, and you did.

BoGoF

He did it because you were a gullible fool so stop blaming your bank.

jonnygee2

There is a lot of misinformation around this. Without getting into specifics, we contact the other bank via a dedicated platform and advise them of our customers claim. They will immediately freeze the beneficiary account

This is partially correct. Definitely not completely wrong.

Reporting to your bank is a must. Your bank should immediately phone the receiving bank.

What happens then isn't quite as simple as 'they will freeze it'. It depends on whether the receiving bank is satisfied it's fraud. Normally, it's pretty obvious when you look at someones account whether it's being used mainly for fraud or not. If it's not obvious or there's reason to doubt the claim they may investigate or take no action.

Also, I disagree that there's any realistic chance of recovery. Accounts receiving money like this are almost always kept at zero balance. I'd rate the chances of recovery of the full amount at less than 1%.

But, reporting to your bank is still a very important first step. By them reporting to the receiving bank, the account could get frozen and closed quicker, and reported to the NCA etc. The quicker accounts get closed the harder it is for thieves to operate.