Facebook and Martin

bobbybhoy88

Hello, I am unsure if anyone can help but here goes anyway.
I answered the widely published ad on Facebook for the Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Holly Willoughby and our very own Martin Lewis, lulled into a false sense of security assuming as these famous and respected people were endorsing the product I could not go wrong. I clicked the ad and was called by a company named Ruby Finance, they said they were responding to me  from the ad on Facebook and convinced me to pay a £250 initial deposit to 'get started'. I was given an Account manager who called himself Reggie and over the next few days he took me through using their portal to buy some CFDs he was very patient with me teaching how to understand shares etc. I increased my 250USD up to 359USD which I thought was quite good for a beginner. Now Reggie started to ask me to get a loan for £8.000 saying we will be able to pay this back in the first month. I did not take up this option and decided Id like to withdraw my money and thanked him for his time and expertise. My withdrawal was put on pending and 4 days later still no payment. I tried and tried to get in touch with them to no avail and needless to say no Reggie the number he had been using to phone me is disconnected and he does not reply on whats app. Meantime I requested help from my Marbles card and they said keep asking Ruby for the money and keep any comms between them and me, I have done so. Marbles refused to refund my deposit saying as this was an investment they did not have to give me the money back. I tried phoning them again and told them that I had nothing to show for this transaction and felt it had all along been a scam, they still refused to refund me my deposit. Yes, I have been a fool, but the ad was using these respected personalities. Facebook should have done due diligence as Martin proved when he successfully sued them. I dont have his expertise or finance to do the same, but I feel Facebook have some share of the blame here. Is there any way I can get my deposit back, take my learned lesson and go on living?

TheMilkmansDad

I'm afraid this is how scams work. Just feel lucky that's its "only" $250 you've lost before cottoning on. Not much chance of getting that back - I'd be very surprised if your bank refunded you, all you can do is keep nagging "Reggie" - but unless your offering more money I doubt they'll reply.

penners324

Sue Facebook 

MSE_JC

Sorry to hear that, @bobbybhoy88 . You might be able to find some help in MSE's '30+ ways to stop scams' guide. 

For others reading this, you're likely to have seen similar online scam adverts using fake stories and doctored images of celebrities, including Martin. The stories often claim that these celebrities endorse the service or product.

The ads appear on all kinds of sites including news and social media, often for Bitcoin or cryptocurrency scams. Don't be fooled. Martin never endorses products, nor does MSE. It's so important to us that people don't fall victim to Fake Ads, that Martin took on Facebook to address it.

If you spot a Fake Ad, please use the spam reporting function on the website where you've seen it. You can also find guidance about scams/phishing on the Government website.

MEM62

bobbybhoy88 said:

Facebook should have done due diligence as Martin proved when he successfully sued them. 

And what was one of the points that Martin Lewis strenuously made at the time?  "I don't do ads!"  So it would be clear that he was not genuinely involved with this one. Any ad that involves celebrities in this way and promises returns for your money that are too good to be true is a scam.     

bobbybhoy88

 wow thanks everyone, your empathy, understanding and support is overwhelming.
My foolish mistake, my loss of money, my credit card refusing refund, my fault for it all.

[Deleted User]

Indeed, but at least now you know, and it's only cost you £250.  It could have been far, far worse.

mcpitman

bobbybhoy88 said:

 wow thanks everyone, your empathy, understanding and support is overwhelming.
My foolish mistake, my loss of money, my credit card refusing refund, my fault for it all.

Lesson learned then.