No Tesco Bank credit card protection against online scam

palmj4

Hi, I attempted to buy a weekend away before this most recent lockdown, but have ended up being scammed into paying over £1,000 for a weekend away that didn’t exist.
I paid for it on my Tesco Bank MasterCard, thinking I’d be protected, but apparently that’s not the case (not chargeback or under section 75).
According to Tesco:
I am fully liable for the full amount because the transaction was to a genuine recipient and it was me that gave my details rather than a faudster, therefore not fraud! They have rejected my claim.
Surely this can’t the case!? - definition of fraud: “wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain”.
 Does anyone have any idea what I can do to try a different route / “term” to attempt to get the huge organisation of tesco to help me out here!? - they get enough of my money on a weekly basis already!
 Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Deleted User]

You'll need to be more specific with the details of what happened.

Don't worry about whether Tesco are 'huge' or not, or how much you spend each week. Just stick to the facts.

Thrugelmir

If the recipient is genuine. Take court action yourself to recover the money. 

palmj4

Sorry for the venting frustration - you are right, I need to focus!
 The genuine recipient is a Bitcoin website and a scammer, so not sure I can take them to court?

 The story:
I was tricked and drawn into a very convincing WhatsApp conversation that lead me into clicking a link to a fake website (not trip advisor as I thought). I proceeded with buying the weekend away, only to see a transaction to cex.com on my credit card app, rather than trip advisor.
 It turns out the villa was made up completely, using images from a genuine villa located elsewhere.
 The scammer ceased all communications with me.
 I reported to tesco the next morning, but the money has already left my account.

cymruchris

How were you drawn into it - where did they get your number from - or where did you get their number from? Who initiated the conversation? Where did the idea of a villa come from?

palmj4

There was a ‘fake’ listing on a well known villa rental site that I’ve used before (home and away rentals / holiday rentals/ vrbo - it’s had a few names over the years!).  On that site, the listing had a mobile number and stated that their villa is listed on multiple sites and it would be best to get in touch with them via WhatsApp to check availability. It was on this WhatsApp conversation (which was very convincing and believable) that they suggested their trip advisor listing had a better availability calendar and they provided a link. That link went through to their fake trip advisor site, rather than the real one and it was here that I proceeded with the booking and payment.

pbartlett

Try Tesco again - if you have paid for goods and/or services on your credit card then if they are not delivered the card company is jointly liable and should refund you.

If they refuse to budge, tell them you want to raise a complaint. Make sure you get it logged as a real complaint. The complaints team will then look at it.

If they find against you then ask for a deadlock letter and take it to the FOS. They have somewhat of a backlog so you might have to wait a while. Don't take it to the FOS until you have exhausted Tesco's complaints procedure though.

Going forward, never ever ever buy anything from Whatsapp, Instagram, Facebook.

Voyager2002

pbartlett said:

Going forward, never ever ever buy anything from Whatsapp, Instagram, Facebook.

This appeared to be a booking made on Trip Advisor, following a link given by the owner of the villa. Personally I might well have fallen for this scam.

cymruchris

pbartlett said:

Try Tesco again - if you have paid for goods and/or services on your credit card then if they are not delivered the card company is jointly liable and should refund you.

If they refuse to budge, tell them you want to raise a complaint. Make sure you get it logged as a real complaint. The complaints team will then look at it.

If they find against you then ask for a deadlock letter and take it to the FOS. They have somewhat of a backlog so you might have to wait a while. Don't take it to the FOS until you have exhausted Tesco's complaints procedure though.

Going forward, never ever ever buy anything from Whatsapp, Instagram, Facebook.

I would certainly try again - but in writing - rather than phoning or emailing. 

[Deleted User]

Voyager2002 said:

pbartlett said:

Going forward, never ever ever buy anything from Whatsapp, Instagram, Facebook.

This appeared to be a booking made on Trip Advisor, following a link given by the owner of the villa. Personally I might well have fallen for this scam.

Fake link by the sounds of it, probably a clone of trip advisor designed to fool people. Or could be just completely different and OP didn't notice. It's not unheard of for scammers to use domains with tiny spelling differences that aren't obvious particularly on a mobile like adviser or triq. Never follow links from things like whatsapp or facebook

2021BJ

pbartlett said:

Try Tesco again - if you have paid for goods and/or services on your credit card then if they are not delivered the card company is jointly liable and should refund you.

If they refuse to budge, tell them you want to raise a complaint. Make sure you get it logged as a real complaint. The complaints team will then look at it.

If they find against you then ask for a deadlock letter and take it to the FOS. They have somewhat of a backlog so you might have to wait a while. Don't take it to the FOS until you have exhausted Tesco's complaints procedure though.

Going forward, never ever ever buy anything from Whatsapp, Instagram, Facebook.

OP did receive the goods though.  CEX.com is a cryptocurrency exchange. OP was duped into buying crypto for the scammer by the sounds of it.

That's presumably why Tesco are rejecting the chargeback. The product, as far as they're concerned, is a crypto purchase, not a villa booking and that product was delivered.