JC
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| posted on 26/7/25 at 07:55 AM |
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What’s the scam here?
So following on from my auction thread.
Man contacts me about the Locost. We have a long conversation and he says he loves it, it’s a great price (it really is!) and can he come and see it?
Says will it be ok to take it that day if he does.
I say yes and I’d prefer a bank transfer, not cash and he says that’s fine.
Comes to view, take him for a test drive, he declines a quick go but says he loves it.
Says he doesn’t want to take it today but will come back in a week for it. Transfers a £500 deposit into my account.
A few days later asks for my bank details again so he can transfer the balance. Sends me a screen shot of the transfer and says to let him know when
the money arrives.
It never does.
Looking at the screen shot, the transfer wasn’t set for immediate payment, but (sent on a Friday) set for Saturday.
Now the fun begins.
They say they sent it.
I ask for the transaction ID. They say they need to contact nationwide to get it.
Eventually by the day of collection his wife calls me to say her account has been frozen - spins a story about having bought a lot recently and she’s
going to the bank on Thursday to sort it.
On Thursday, she says they had frozen her account because as she’d had cancer, they had her marked as vulnerable, but it was now sorted but her card
couldn’t be unfrozen until the next week so she’d send money then.
Another week passes.
She messages again - account still not working, but says she’s made an appointment for the Friday to get the money in cash and had ordered me a pen
from Amazon so I could check the notes….
I say no thanks, ask for a bankers draft - which she says is ok.
Friday comes and goes, no money.
Then says she’s fed up with nationwide so has shut the account and transferred the money to their Barclays account.
Then, the money has gone missing in the transfer. They are in a really bad spot and she’s having to sell her car. Send her details and asks for the
deposit back.
The story was just credible to begin with, but as it got more far fetched I got more suspicious.
I’m not minded to refund the deposit, certainly not until I sell the car….
But what scam were they trying to pull? And ideas?
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Slimy38
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| posted on 26/7/25 at 08:21 AM |
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The only thing I can think of is if they ask for the deposit in cash or bankers draft, then they reverse the original deposit transaction? Then
they're up £500.
Or if the deposit has come from someone else's compromised account, you refund to the scammers account and the original person then raises a
fraud case to get their money back. I'm not sure you can see where the money has come from, so it definitely goes back to the same account?
I do agree though, several points in that story just don't check out.
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adithorp
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| posted on 26/7/25 at 01:31 PM |
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I'd guess the deposit was transfered from a dodgy account (fraudulently from someone else's?) and the whole "story" is just the
setup to get you to refund it to their own account.
"A witty saying proves nothing" Voltaire
http://jpsc.org.uk/forum/
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JC
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| posted on 26/7/25 at 10:26 PM |
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Ah - that’s an interesting angle. I hadn’t thought of that.
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computid
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| posted on 27/7/25 at 10:43 PM |
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Yes, almost certainly they've sent the deposit from someone else's account and now want you to transfer it to their "new" Barclays
account such that when you send it they're up £500, and when the bank unwinds the £500 you received from the compromised account you're now
out £1000.
An awful lot of effort for £500 though, given he turned up in person. I'd probably call the non-emergency number and report it, especially if you
have his details from the drive/a licence plate of the car they were in.
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gremlin1234
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| posted on 28/7/25 at 01:34 PM |
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as above
DO NOT refund it to a different account!
in-fact do not refund at all, make the banks do their job to sort it out, remember, you are the /potential/ victim here.
I recommend contacting
https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/reportscam
actionfraud.police.uk
and explain it to them, just to ensure the banks don't assume you are the fraudster.
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JC
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| posted on 31/7/25 at 05:48 AM |
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Today’s latest:
Please send the money by 9am tomorrow as we have bills to pay.
Errrrrmmmm, nope!
Thanks for the advice everyone, my bank weren’t especially helpful except to say that as I have reported it all was good from my pov, and not to
refund the money, but wait for the other bank to approach them.
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coyoteboy
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| posted on 31/7/25 at 11:39 AM |
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I think some banks show a headline figure if a payment is due, so you'd check your account shows the headline figure and OK it, then they cancel
the transaction once collected.
Either that or they're clueless.
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