I got a CIFAS for receiving £85 for jackets

mintyjelly447

Kim_13 said:

mintyjelly447 said:

MrFrugalFever said:

An interesting read here, with many comments that seemingly change the facts as you read on through the thread.

TheBanker has literally got it spot on and summarised exactly what has happened here (extrapolating the information supplied by the OP).

Sorry OP but you only have yourself to blame, the first and only red flag was the 'not received my jacket that I paid £50 for'.

The thing is it was not a random guy that I received the money from, it was literally someone that I had been friends with and had helped so much so I just thought that taking the £85 and sending it to him would be fine. But yeah I was naive an it's landed me in trouble, I, however don't think I should have got a CIFAS marker

If he was a friend he would have refunded you if he could not give you what you had paid for, or told you that he was short of cash right now but could pay you on X, not gone silent on you and caused you to raise a dispute with your bank. As far as any bank will be concerned, he ceased being a friend when that dispute went in and that dispute should have taken its course.

He had demonstrated to you that he could not be trusted via not delivering the jacket or refunding. If you accept a payment into your bank that isn't for you, you essentially vouch for it being legitimate. Given he did not deliver your jacket, it should have been obvious that he would not deliver anyone else's and therefore he was not entitled to the money you accepted into your account any more than he was entitled to the money you paid him - you obviously agree with that, having opened the dispute. No one is going to agree that it is acceptable to facilitate ripping someone else off in order to recover your own money which is essentially what it boils down to. Your conduct was characteristic of money laundering and money mules receive CIFAS markers for misuse of facility.

He said that he was going to pay me back, so I believed that he would pay me back, which he still hasn't up to this day, that is why I took the money. I did not suspect that he was going to scam anybody

mintyjelly447

TheBanker said:

mintyjelly447 said:

MrFrugalFever said:

An interesting read here, with many comments that seemingly change the facts as you read on through the thread.

TheBanker has literally got it spot on and summarised exactly what has happened here (extrapolating the information supplied by the OP).

Sorry OP but you only have yourself to blame, the first and only red flag was the 'not received my jacket that I paid £50 for'.

The thing is it was not a random guy that I received the money from, it was literally someone that I had been friends with and had helped so much so I just thought that taking the £85 and sending it to him would be fine. But yeah I was naive an it's landed me in trouble, I, however don't think I should have got a CIFAS marker

If he was such a good friend, why did you report to your bank that he had defrauded you out of £50? Why not just ask him for the money back, or for the jacket, or even let him off if he's such a good friend? 

You may be naive and I suspect you are young, but you have to take responsibility for your actions. Having been defrauded yourself by this friend, you decided to help him defraud someone else. Can't you see this is wrong? I love my best friend as though he is my brother, but if he asked me to help him commit a crime I would say no.

The CIFAS marker is not some kind of punishment. It is a matter of fact recording that you allowed your bank account to be used for criminal activity. Its intention is to warn other banks that you pose a high risk if they open accounts for you. 

Yeah, you are correct, I am young. I understand that I should not have taken the money, but I wasn't aware this was criminal activity. As I said earlier he said that he would pay me back that is why I took the money and as he was my friend I believed that he would do so. I was also at a friends birthday party when this was all happening so I would say that my thinking cap was not fully on and I did not see any red flags, however I do understand where you are coming from

mintyjelly447

teaselMay said:

You've said a few times OP that you've helped this friend a lot, does that include financially? Are your finances more entangled than just this one fraudulent transaction that you've told us about?

No I meant as in like help him buy food when he didn't have any etc along those type of lines, not to do with financially.

mintyjelly447

Thank you guys for the replies by the way, I've been busy lately so I have been unable to view all of them, thanks to those that are giving me advice as well very much appreciated. 

mintyjelly447

Eyeful said:

mintyjelly447 said:

The thing is it was not a random guy that I received the money from, it was literally someone that I had been friends with and had helped so much so I just thought that taking the £85 and sending it to him would be fine. But yeah I was naive an it's landed me in trouble, I, however don't think I should have got a CIFAS marker

You except  £80 into your personal bank account from someone.
Then you send the £80 on to someone.
This does sound like the way "money mules" work.
You had already reported one of the persons for not providing you with a jacket you paid £50 for!

Persons cannot say they have never heard of "Money Mules",
I have seen warnings on TV & in the press about how they operate & consequence's when caught.
I understand there are also warnings on social media about them. 

1. How long had you known the person before this insistent occurred? 
2. What ways did your " helped so much " take?
3. Banks do not normally take notice of such small sums. So, have you done any "financial favours" you have not mentioned?
4. Why did you not deduct the £50 they owed you & send them £30?
5. You do not think you should have got a CIFAS marker. So what do you think should have happened to you? 

1. I went to school with him
2. Helped so much as in like buying lunch for him virtually almost daily
3. No I hadn't previously done any financial favours
4. I was not thinking at the time as I was out at the time this was all happening so I would say I wasn't really thinking
5. I don't think that I should have gotten anything if I am being honest, this marker literally prevents me from receiving any student loans or payments for the next 2 years, which I think is quite unfair, as I did not intend to defraud anybody and I reckon he got away with it if I was a money mule or defrauded somebody. Reading the other comments I do understand where I went wrong though.

mintyjelly447

kaMelo said:

What I struggle to understand is that, as a really good friend, why not just go and speak to them. (give me the jacket or my money back) No need to involve the bank at all.

I moved far away so I was literally going to come down and meet him to get the jacket and then go back, well that was the plan. But yeah unfortunately life has its own plans sometimes and people aren't who you expect them to be. I have learnt my lesson though. 

Grumpy_chap

mintyjelly447 said:

2. Helped so much as in like buying lunch for him virtually almost daily
3. No I hadn't previously done any financial favours

I guess shouting him lunch every day is really a financial favour, even if it feels different being "in kind".
Has this been a largely one-way support?

mintyjelly447

Grumpy_chap said:

mintyjelly447 said:

2. Helped so much as in like buying lunch for him virtually almost daily
3. No I hadn't previously done any financial favours

I guess shouting him lunch every day is really a financial favour, even if it feels different being "in kind".
Has this been a largely one-way support?

I'd say so. He has not really helped me in any way

ian1246

mintyjelly447 said:

Eyeful said:

mintyjelly447 said:

The thing is it was not a random guy that I received the money from, it was literally someone that I had been friends with and had helped so much so I just thought that taking the £85 and sending it to him would be fine. But yeah I was naive an it's landed me in trouble, I, however don't think I should have got a CIFAS marker

You except  £80 into your personal bank account from someone.
Then you send the £80 on to someone.
This does sound like the way "money mules" work.
You had already reported one of the persons for not providing you with a jacket you paid £50 for!

Persons cannot say they have never heard of "Money Mules",
I have seen warnings on TV & in the press about how they operate & consequence's when caught.
I understand there are also warnings on social media about them. 

1. How long had you known the person before this insistent occurred? 
2. What ways did your " helped so much " take?
3. Banks do not normally take notice of such small sums. So, have you done any "financial favours" you have not mentioned?
4. Why did you not deduct the £50 they owed you & send them £30?
5. You do not think you should have got a CIFAS marker. So what do you think should have happened to you? 

1. I went to school with him
2. Helped so much as in like buying lunch for him virtually almost daily
3. No I hadn't previously done any financial favours
4. I was not thinking at the time as I was out at the time this was all happening so I would say I wasn't really thinking
5. I don't think that I should have gotten anything if I am being honest, this marker literally prevents me from receiving any student loans or payments for the next 2 years, which I think is quite unfair, as I did not intend to defraud anybody and I reckon he got away with it if I was a money mule or defrauded somebody. Reading the other comments I do understand where I went wrong though.

For the next 6 years - not 2 years. As I said in my earlier post, you need to start planning ahead on how your going to do day to day activites.

mintyjelly447

ian1246 said:

mintyjelly447 said:

Eyeful said:

mintyjelly447 said:

The thing is it was not a random guy that I received the money from, it was literally someone that I had been friends with and had helped so much so I just thought that taking the £85 and sending it to him would be fine. But yeah I was naive an it's landed me in trouble, I, however don't think I should have got a CIFAS marker

You except  £80 into your personal bank account from someone.
Then you send the £80 on to someone.
This does sound like the way "money mules" work.
You had already reported one of the persons for not providing you with a jacket you paid £50 for!

Persons cannot say they have never heard of "Money Mules",
I have seen warnings on TV & in the press about how they operate & consequence's when caught.
I understand there are also warnings on social media about them. 

1. How long had you known the person before this insistent occurred? 
2. What ways did your " helped so much " take?
3. Banks do not normally take notice of such small sums. So, have you done any "financial favours" you have not mentioned?
4. Why did you not deduct the £50 they owed you & send them £30?
5. You do not think you should have got a CIFAS marker. So what do you think should have happened to you? 

1. I went to school with him
2. Helped so much as in like buying lunch for him virtually almost daily
3. No I hadn't previously done any financial favours
4. I was not thinking at the time as I was out at the time this was all happening so I would say I wasn't really thinking
5. I don't think that I should have gotten anything if I am being honest, this marker literally prevents me from receiving any student loans or payments for the next 2 years, which I think is quite unfair, as I did not intend to defraud anybody and I reckon he got away with it if I was a money mule or defrauded somebody. Reading the other comments I do understand where I went wrong though.

For the next 6 years - not 2 years. As I said in my earlier post, you need to start planning ahead on how your going to do day to day activites.

It's two years sir, it says for me til 2026 but I just discovered that I had this last week