Scammed

[dicy]

Hi All

Its looking quite likely that I have been scammed on Facebook Marketplace.

I was looking to upgrade my Chromecast Audio and my lovely wife gave me £200 for Christmas, I thought I’d have to wait a while as funds are tight and I was hoping to get a Bluesound Node or CXN used. I then spotted a Node on FB Marketplace for a fantastic price.

Facebook had put the location as Orpington in Kent, which is doable for me, but it turns out the seller actually lived in the Northeast Orpington, I pleaded with her to let me buy and pay postage if she was willing to post it. Everything looked ok, she was seemed v genuine and pleasant via messenger.

Anyway, since this morning, messages via messenger don’t get sent and I can’t even view her Facebook profile. My wife could view the profile and giving her the benefit of the doubt, she messaged her asking if she had blocked me by mistake and that I was getting a wee bit concerned. Of course we have heard nothing.

So I’m absolutely gutted, it’s left a very sour taste and I just feel bloody stupid and cynical, which isn’t like me as I really try to see the best in people. 
 

So I’m now left without anything (have sold the CCA), I’ll try and get a refund from PayPal, but I paid F&F so not sure I’ll have any luck. I like to think I’m pretty savvy, and even looking back over everything, this was very very clever in its subtlety and myself anything but clever in my eagerness to buy - if it’s too good to be true, it usually is!

My wife has offered to replace the money as an early birthday pressie, so if anyone knows of any (genuine) bargains please let me know, but I suspect I’ll have to wait and save for quite a while.

Happy New Year to all

Cheers

Rich

 

[Blzebub]

a Node on FB Marketplace for a fantastic price.

Too good to be true, as it turned out. Red flag awesome deals.

 

[dicy]

Too good to be true, as it turned out. Red flag awesome deals.

Absolutely 

 

[Rockchild]

Well there was an Audio Research REF 5 pre on there today for £800. Scams are rife 

 

[Southeastern]

Everyone learns at one point or another, never use PayPal Friends and Family, especially on Facebook Marketplace where you can blocked a moment after paying. 

We all have down days though and get sucked it, these people are often professionals at it.  She may have even been genuine in selling of the item, but once you paid by PPFF they just thought, 'free money'.

If you paid by credit card through PPFF you can talk to your card  issuer and ask them to initiate a chargeback, and 9/10 you should win it. Will take a while though.

 

[2010*zuma]

That’s a cheap life lesson to learn by…

 

[flak monkey]

Sorry to hear you got done. I had similar earlier this year, not hifi related, similar value. You won't get anything from PayPal if you did F&F.

You can report via Action Fraud. It's unlikely you'll get your money back but if enough people report the scammer they are likely to get found and prosecuted.

Hope you get sorted.

 

[oldius]

I am sorry to hear that you have had that happen. I have a Logitech Squeezebox Touch that you can borrow until you get yourself sorted, if that helps.

 

[StingRay]

Sorry to hear this. I don’t trust FB, too many scammers and fake profiles. I would get some screen shots of her profile while you can. Then report her if you don’t receive it next week. If you paid by credit card you should be able to claim this back. 

I had a look for Nodes and very few about, there is Node 2 in white on eBay for £250, there is a 2i current bid of £275. The maybe a Node coming up for sale on the WAM shortly. 

 

[hifinutt]

get the flash on the case ... he tracked down some ebay scammers and bought them to justice . hope you get some justice  

 

[luckysim0n]

I know a few lads who will pay them a visit

 

[orbscure]

Sorry to hear this Dicy... unless I can visit the FB seller and see/collect the item, I'd steer well clear...

 

[lindsayt]

Thanks for posting that.

It's the old bait and switch scam. I've seen people try that before. Claim they are in London and when you contact them all of a sudden they are in the Outer Hebrides.

I've never even heard of an Orpington in the North East. It doesn't show up on the first pages of my google search.

One way to put a positive spin on it is that even with this scam, if you find another example used at the right price you should still be better off overall than if you'd bought new at full retail price.

 

[JD68]

Can you link the Facebook profile in here (assuming mods will allow it)? If enough wammers put comments on the profile it might trigger a response from someone who knows them?

I would never pay by F&F unless it's a trusted wammer, definitely not for someone off Facebook. 

 

[pmcuk]

Everyone learns at one point or another, never use PayPal Friends and Family, especially on Facebook Marketplace where you can blocked a moment after paying. 

Another "no" on a related subject is when selling abroad on ebay always use ebay's own International option. I've had punters ask if I can combine items abroad, which you can't do with the Global Shipping programme. I did that 3 times via Royal Mail and everything sent to China and Russia disappeared.  

 

[JohnnyNapalm]

Report to the Police and let this person know. Might force a refund? Good luck.

 

[justinhd]

Can you link the Facebook profile in here (assuming mods will allow it)? If enough wammers put comments on the profile it might trigger a response from someone who knows them?
I would never pay by F&F unless it's a trusted wammer, definitely not for someone off Facebook. 

I got scammed by a “trusted wammer” so no guarantee that you are safe. Remind yourself that there is no “rush” to get your gear asap regardless of how keen you are to get it hooked up to your system. A genuine seller will allow you to take a bit of time. A dead giveaway is if the seller is overly keen to process payment or (in my experience) does not have a sound command of the English language. Avoid PayPal F&F - the surcharge for Goods & Services is a good insurance. Certainly avoid Facebook (it’s a scampit). Gumtree is better but the same governance should apply. Lots of fake gear about as well on FB and gumtree.


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[Southeastern]

Another "no" on a related subject is when selling abroad on ebay always use ebay's own International option. I've had punters ask if I can combine items abroad, which you can't do with the Global Shipping programme. I did that 3 times via Royal Mail and everything sent to China and Russia disappeared.  

I only use couriers when sending abroad, I've lost more items through Royal Mail in the UK, than I have with International. Only ever lost one with UPS which was paid out pretty quickly.

I dislike the eBay Global Shipping Programme for a fair few reasons but can understand why it's a good option for the occasional seller. 

 

[bigrod]

I got scammed by a “trusted wammer” so no guarantee that you are safe. Remind yourself that there is no “rush” to get your gear asap regardless of how keen you are to get it hooked up to your system. A genuine seller will allow you to take a bit of time. A dead giveaway is if the seller is overly keen to process payment or (in my experience) does not have a sound command of the English language. Avoid PayPal F&F - the surcharge for Goods & Services is a good insurance. Certainly avoid Facebook (it’s a scampit). Gumtree is better but the same governance should apply. Lots of fake gear about as well on FB and gumtree.


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Who was the trusted Wammer ??

I have never been on Facebook and never will .. it’s the dirge of mankind especially for children, Diane is responsible for the safeguarding and pastoral care of 15,000 school children and says that Facebook and the like are responsible for 80% of children’s anxieties and family problems .. 

It’s full of Fake news and Fake people . But the genie is out of the box And the power’s that be will never be able to put it back ..It’s the perfect platform for people who have no moral fortitude..