Fraud - bank transfer

heidiprincess13

Hi. I found a van for sale on Monday and I called the seller and he told me that someone else was paying the asking price in full. The original ad was on eBay but I had taken the sellers phone number before the listing ended. 

I had paid for a vehicle check and all came back ok, I told the seller this and he told me that he will tell the other buyer he was selling to me as I had paid for a vehicle check. 

The seller gave me his bank details and address and I transferred the full amount of £6950.

I paid the money on Tuesday 17th October and have been in texr contact with the seller. I didn’t go to collect the van yesterday as the weather was too bad and it was a 2 hour each way trip. 

I called the seller this morning to arrange a time to collect the van this evening and drove up to Worthing. I get to the address and a lady answered the door and apologised as I am the 2nd person in two days who has knocked at her door to buy the van. 

I called my bank, but they said before they speak to me I have to take 2 forms of ID into the bank as I didn’t pass security, my mind was all over the place and I was so upset I just couldn’t remember anything. 

I have called the police and they sent me a link to fill in a form via action fraud which I have done and now have a crime number.

what do I do now? Will I get my money back? The sellers name matched those on the bank transfer.

I bank with NatWest and they are part of the crm code but I don’t really know what that means. 

I have look on CAB and the website said Contact your bank immediately to let them know what’s happened and ask if you can get a refund.

Most banks should reimburse you if you’ve transferred money to someone because of a scam. This type of scam is known as an ‘authorised push payment’.

I feel so stupid and can’t afford to lose this money. Any help or advice is greatly appreciated 

heidiprincess13

Thank you for the reply. I feel so stupid and embarrassed 

dil1976

heidiprincess13 said:

Thank you for the reply. I feel so stupid and embarrassed 

There is nothing to feel stupid or embarrassed about, these sort of scammers catch even the most witted of people out. They try pressure techniques to get people to do something rashly like in this circumstance, when they know people aren't fully alert.

You need to contact your bank ASAP and see if there is anything they can do for you, have you googled to sort code to see if it is a UK bank, as that would help your case for getting the funds back if it is UK based.

heidiprincess13

I have just googled it and it is a uk nationwide bank. My bank NatWest are contacting them this evening and they said I would hear back in 15 days. I’m trying to stay hopeful. Thank you for your reply 

retiredbanker1

heidiprincess13 said:

I have just googled it and it is a uk nationwide bank. My bank NatWest are contacting them this evening and they said I would hear back in 15 days. I’m trying to stay hopeful. Thank you for your reply 

IMO as soon as the funds hit the bank account they would have been transferred or withdrawn. So expect Nat West to contact you in 15 days to say they have been unable to recover your funds.

I do feel sorry for you and I am not up to date over what and what not is considered fraud for the bank to reimburse you.

HampshireH

Also make sure you report to Ebay.

Whilst you didn't use ebay so it is technically a private sale off platform. If you can evidence the same van by the same person and phone number is being listed its worth at least trying to prevent another person being scammed.

Ebay I've found are good on the phone and this is probably worth a conversation rather than their messaging system