Facebook scam...

mikcatta

hello, Iam not proud to say this but was scammed on Facebook. 

However, the most annoying thing is that Facebook are not interested, and say the person has NOT broken their "community" rules. Speaking to others, it seems at least one other person has been defrauded and another reported that the same fraudster tried it on with them, but they were a bit wiser.

I have reported it to action fraud, but is there anything I can do to stop this person repeating the same tricks on so someone else?

Is there any mileage in reporting it to the police, or is that duplicating the efforts from ActionFraud?

Sandtree

Action Fraud is the police so it would be duplication.

As to what else you can do... that really depends on what they have done and if you think you have any accurate real world details about them. Unfortunately those truly intending to defaud, rather than sell "genuine fakes" etc, don't tend to give their real details.

cx6

I am not a Facebook user and even if I was I wouldn't buy anything from there.

There do seem to be far too many stories about regarding Facebook scams and Facebook not doing anything about them though.

pinkshoes

What exactly is the scam? Something involving a bank transfer for goods then goods not arriving?

All you can do is share their profile on groups and let others know what has happened to prevent it happening to others.

soolin

cx6 said:

I am not a Facebook user and even if I was I wouldn't buy anything from there.

There do seem to be far too many stories about regarding Facebook scams and Facebook not doing anything about them though.

Facebook are notorious at not seeing problems even when users report them and believe me I’ve tried over and over

However (and this is one of my soapbox rants so be warned) the scams are often so obvious that I am sure even if it had a headline ‘this is a scam’ people would still queue up to send money. I have been banned from more than one local group by trying to warn of a scam actually happening , usually bank transfer ones with hard to get items.I have been told that I am obviously privileged or middle class if I think everyone can pay shop prices and there’s no harm at all if people want to sell a few things and not want to pay PayPal fees. 

A few years ago I watched as the Michael Kors handbag scam went down whilst being on a last warning from various group admin that I was being paranoid at trying to warn people not to  pay deposits by bank transfer. The same thing happened in 2020 with people taking deposits for very hard to get garden furniture and hot tubs asking for bank transfer deposits in the region of £50 -£60 with the balance to be paid cash on delivery - shock news, nothing was ever delivered and the con merchants made thousands. 

These scams are easy in facebook , they used to be done via small ads but the audience now is bigger, if facebook ever do act then they will just move somewhere else. The best way to stop the scumbags from these scams is not to fall for them. 

mobileron

why dont you name the company so other people dont get scammed.

DB1904

Sandtree said:

Action Fraud is the police so it would be duplication.

As to what else you can do... that really depends on what they have done and if you think you have any accurate real world details about them. Unfortunately those truly intending to defaud, rather than sell "genuine fakes" etc, don't tend to give their real details.

It's not and the OP's report in all likelihood will never be seen by the police. 

Ergates

soolin said:

A few years ago I watched as the Michael Kors handbag scam went down whilst being on a last warning from various group admin that I was being paranoid at trying to warn people not to  pay deposits by bank transfer.  

When it all blew up and people started reporting it as a scam did you get an "I told you so" moment?

Ergates

mikcatta said:

hello, Iam not proud to say this but was scammed on Facebook. 

However, the most annoying thing is that Facebook are not interested, and say the person has NOT broken their "community" rules. Speaking to others, it seems at least one other person has been defrauded and another reported that the same fraudster tried it on with them, but they were a bit wiser.

I have reported it to action fraud, but is there anything I can do to stop this person repeating the same tricks on so someone else?

Is there any mileage in reporting it to the police, or is that duplicating the efforts from ActionFraud?

Given how little Facebook cared, and how much effort it took to make Facebook do something, when their platform was being used to promote and organise actual geocide then expecting them to do something about a simple scam is wasted effort.

SiliconChip

DB1904 said:

Sandtree said:

Action Fraud is the police so it would be duplication.

As to what else you can do... that really depends on what they have done and if you think you have any accurate real world details about them. Unfortunately those truly intending to defaud, rather than sell "genuine fakes" etc, don't tend to give their real details.

It's not and the OP's report in all likelihood will never be seen by the police. 

Oh yes it is!

"The service is run by the City of London Police working alongside the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) who are responsible for assessment of the reports and to ensure that your fraud reports reach the right place. The City of London Police is the national policing lead for economic crime."

https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/what-is-action-fraud

soolin

Ergates said:

soolin said:

A few years ago I watched as the Michael Kors handbag scam went down whilst being on a last warning from various group admin that I was being paranoid at trying to warn people not to  pay deposits by bank transfer.  

When it all blew up and people started reporting it as a scam did you get an "I told you so" moment?

Nope as most people had blocked me by then as being an alarmist. I remain to this day blocked by several local groups despite the report being covered by local press with the headline along the lines of  'clever scam nets thousands of pounds from local residents'. This along with several dozen people stating it was THE LAW that banks had to refund bank transfers, no questions asked once you told them it was a scam...