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Employer blaims husband for falling for scam

Hi all,
You have helped me in the past with a completely different issue and I hope you can give some advice on something that has happened to my husband, too.
My husband is a car sales man and last week he sold a car to what turned out to be a scammer. The proof of transfer of fund he showed was a photoshopped screenshot.
The owner of the garage is now asking my husband to pay back the value of the car.
The owner claims the insurance will not cover the claim as my husband should have asked for a valid form of ID such as a driving license instead of what turned out to be a fake Police ID.
The owner of the garage has threatened to take my husband to the small claims court if he doesn't at least agree to paying half of the car.
We are seeking legal advice, but hope someone else can guide us in the right direction in the meantime.
Thanks in advance.
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Comments

  • DullGreyGuy
    DullGreyGuy Posts: 15,578 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    What does his contract of employment say? 

    https://www.gov.uk/understanding-your-pay/deductions-from-your-pay

    Assuming it counts as "retail" and the contract of employment does mention deductions for the till being light or stock missing then as per the above link they maximum they can take in any one period is 10% of your pay and cannot take you below minimum wage (last pay slip if you are leaving is different).

    Not sure if a bank transfer not being made would technically count as the till be light or not. There are certainly parallels to a non-joined up POS where the cashier puts it in the till as a card payment but then doesn't spot that the payment was declined/didnt go through.

    Your taking legal advice so that clearly needs to take precedent over the ramblings of random strangers here.
  • Hi,
    what's happening in trying to find the scammer?
    Can DVLA help?
  • Grumpy_chap
    Grumpy_chap Posts: 16,998 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    pupskuss said:
    Hi all,
    You have helped me in the past with a completely different issue and I hope you can give some advice on something that has happened to my husband, too.
    My husband is a car sales man and last week he sold a car to what turned out to be a scammer. The proof of transfer of fund he showed was a photoshopped screenshot.
    The owner of the garage is now asking my husband to pay back the value of the car.
    The owner claims the insurance will not cover the claim as my husband should have asked for a valid form of ID such as a driving license instead of what turned out to be a fake Police ID.
    The owner of the garage has threatened to take my husband to the small claims court if he doesn't at least agree to paying half of the car.
    We are seeking legal advice, but hope someone else can guide us in the right direction in the meantime.
    Thanks in advance.
    Did your husband follow the procedures that are in place at the employer?
  • Nearlyold
    Nearlyold Posts: 2,356 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 6 September 2023 at 3:37PM
    Was your husband in breach of any known/written procedures the dealer has in place to ensure funds have arrived in the dealers account before releasing a vehicle.
  • Hi,
    what's happening in trying to find the scammer?
    Can DVLA help?
    The police is involved and they have good CCTV footage, but the details left behind are unfortunately fake.
    The car is reported stolen already, but probably had new number plates within minutes. 
  • Nearlyold said:
    Was your husband in breach of known/written procedures the dealer has in place to ensure funds have arrived in the dealers account before releasing a vehicle.
    He has no contract, but has payslips dating back 10+ years.
    There are no written procedures.
    My husband usually asks for proof of the transfer or calls the owner to ensure the money has gone into the business account.
    On this occasion the proof of transfer seemed enough.
  • Wonka_2
    Wonka_2 Posts: 821 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    pupskuss said:
    Hi all,
    You have helped me in the past with a completely different issue and I hope you can give some advice on something that has happened to my husband, too.
    My husband is a car sales man and last week he sold a car to what turned out to be a scammer. The proof of transfer of fund he showed was a photoshopped screenshot.
    The owner of the garage is now asking my husband to pay back the value of the car.
    The owner claims the insurance will not cover the claim as my husband should have asked for a valid form of ID such as a driving license instead of what turned out to be a fake Police ID.
    The owner of the garage has threatened to take my husband to the small claims court if he doesn't at least agree to paying half of the car.
    We are seeking legal advice, but hope someone else can guide us in the right direction in the meantime.
    Thanks in advance.
    Did your husband follow the procedures that are in place at the employer?
    I'm imagining the sort of dealer that allows a transaction to be carried out without checks in place is unlikely to have written procedures/T&C's.

    I can't recall a recent car transaction that hasn't needed at least 2 points of contact/approval within the dealer.

    @pupskuss how long has husband worked there and does he have a written contract ?
  • pupskuss said:
    Hi all,
    You have helped me in the past with a completely different issue and I hope you can give some advice on something that has happened to my husband, too.
    My husband is a car sales man and last week he sold a car to what turned out to be a scammer. The proof of transfer of fund he showed was a photoshopped screenshot.
    The owner of the garage is now asking my husband to pay back the value of the car.
    The owner claims the insurance will not cover the claim as my husband should have asked for a valid form of ID such as a driving license instead of what turned out to be a fake Police ID.
    The owner of the garage has threatened to take my husband to the small claims court if he doesn't at least agree to paying half of the car.
    We are seeking legal advice, but hope someone else can guide us in the right direction in the meantime.
    Thanks in advance.
    Did your husband follow the procedures that are in place at the employer?
    I believe so. There are no official procedures in place as such.
    It's a very small garage with 4 staff and 1 sales man, being my husband.
  • Wonka_2 said:
    pupskuss said:
    Hi all,
    You have helped me in the past with a completely different issue and I hope you can give some advice on something that has happened to my husband, too.
    My husband is a car sales man and last week he sold a car to what turned out to be a scammer. The proof of transfer of fund he showed was a photoshopped screenshot.
    The owner of the garage is now asking my husband to pay back the value of the car.
    The owner claims the insurance will not cover the claim as my husband should have asked for a valid form of ID such as a driving license instead of what turned out to be a fake Police ID.
    The owner of the garage has threatened to take my husband to the small claims court if he doesn't at least agree to paying half of the car.
    We are seeking legal advice, but hope someone else can guide us in the right direction in the meantime.
    Thanks in advance.
    Did your husband follow the procedures that are in place at the employer?
    I'm imagining the sort of dealer that allows a transaction to be carried out without checks in place is unlikely to have written procedures/T&C's.

    I can't recall a recent car transaction that hasn't needed at least 2 points of contact/approval within the dealer.

    @pupskuss how long has husband worked there and does he have a written contract ?
    No, no contract and he has been employed for 19 years.
    The current owner being in charge since 2020 in case that makes a difference.
  • Wonka_2
    Wonka_2 Posts: 821 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    pupskuss said:
    Wonka_2 said:
    pupskuss said:
    Hi all,
    You have helped me in the past with a completely different issue and I hope you can give some advice on something that has happened to my husband, too.
    My husband is a car sales man and last week he sold a car to what turned out to be a scammer. The proof of transfer of fund he showed was a photoshopped screenshot.
    The owner of the garage is now asking my husband to pay back the value of the car.
    The owner claims the insurance will not cover the claim as my husband should have asked for a valid form of ID such as a driving license instead of what turned out to be a fake Police ID.
    The owner of the garage has threatened to take my husband to the small claims court if he doesn't at least agree to paying half of the car.
    We are seeking legal advice, but hope someone else can guide us in the right direction in the meantime.
    Thanks in advance.
    Did your husband follow the procedures that are in place at the employer?
    I'm imagining the sort of dealer that allows a transaction to be carried out without checks in place is unlikely to have written procedures/T&C's.

    I can't recall a recent car transaction that hasn't needed at least 2 points of contact/approval within the dealer.

    @pupskuss how long has husband worked there and does he have a written contract ?
    No, no contract and he has been employed for 19 years.
    The current owner being in charge since 2020 in case that makes a difference.
    So 'safe' from an employment law perspective but then all depends on the owners morals and how much 'emotion' is driving the words/threats being issued. Assuming it was a big enough transaction to be worth the fraud then husband's likely to need some defence/justification as to why there wasn't a 2nd check in place - particularly if dealers insurance policy stipulates it
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