Gumtree scam resulted in my bank account being frozen

pbartlett

even if you accept from people you know - let's say your 17 yr old child - you don't know they have not been money muling off facebook and before you know it their account and yours are frozen just because they bank transferred £25 to you

p3ncilsharpener

pbartlett said:

even if you accept from people you know - let's say your 17 yr old child - you don't know they have not been money muling off facebook and before you know it their account and yours are frozen just because they bank transferred £25 to you

That's always been the case though.  The only thing that has changed is that the risk when banks transfers are used as payment for goods has changed from the buyer to the seller.

sand_hun

Update: The fraud team have looked at the documentation I sent them (evidence of the Gumtree listing, CCTV footage, plus a written statement) and have now agreed to lift the restrictions on my account.

However they said it's still 'under review' and there's a chance I'll have to pay back the money for the sale of the phone. It wasn't even a lot of money, but it's the principle of the matter - I will absolutely not accept a decision for this scammer to be credited (unless of course they return the phone to me in condition it was sold). 

sheramber

The owner  of the account the money cane from may not be the scammer .

Ectophile

Unfortunately, the government have effectively de-criminalised small-scale fraud.  If you're the victim of fraud, you are not allowed to talk to the police.  Instead, you have to contact Action Fraud.  Despite their name, they do not take action on fraud.  If it's too small, they will log it and maybe give you a crime number.  That's the end of the "investigation".

In response, the FCA have pushed the problem onto the banks.  They are now expected to refund almost all victims of fraud, unless the victim was grossly negligent.  So if the other party convinces their bank that they did not authorise the payment, the bank has to reverse it.  That means either the bank loses the money, or you lose the money.  Since you haven't vanished with the money, guess which option they will prefer?

Disclosure: I own shares in a bank, so I might be a bit biased as to which option I prefer!

eddddy

sand_hun said:

I will absolutely not accept a decision for this scammer to be credited (unless of course they return the phone to me in condition it was sold). 

As others suggest...

The money might not have come from the scammer's bank account. It might have come from the account of a scam victim.


i.e. The scammer gained access to somebody's bank account, and transferred the money to you without the account holder's consent.

So 2 people have been scammed - you and the account holder. So now it's a question of who bears the loss - you, the account holder, or the bank.