Facebook scammer - advice needed

My daughter found out today she has been scammed. She asked on FB if anyone had any tickets for sale for the Truck Festival in Oxford in a few weeks time. A person caklled Jennifer Roberts replied that she did. My daughter transferred the money to her but her FB account disappeared and she has vanished without sending the tickets. She has done this to others too. My daughter has contacted her bank but they arent confident of getting the money back which was £185. I told her to call the police too and to get a crime number. She says she isnt going to bother to tell FB as they wont do anything but surely they have a responsibility when something like this happens.

Any advice please? Cheers.

Sorry mate, I would have though facebook would have removed themselves in their terms from any liability, pay pal is the obly way to do these things, sorry and I hope I’m wrong.

You are probably right. I hoped that they might have some way of tracking the scammer down. Cant remember what info you have to give when you set up a FB account.

Did she use credit card or debit card/bank transfer, SoG?

I’m not certain how it applies between individuals, but credit card companies would usually protect you against fraud from a ‘company’.

She MUST call the Cops. May not get her cash back but it will go on record & eventually enough scams like this will get action taken so she will help others.

#dontstayquiet

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Bank transfer sadly.

She has called the police. It cant be hard to trace where the money has gone can it? The scammer must have provided a kosher account number surely?

It’s more than likely that, if this was a serious scammer (a professional one, if you’ll forgive the term), they’ll have had a ready-prepared compromised bank account for just such a purpose. Or a bank account set up, filled with illegal money, then emptied and closed.

Sadly, the only advice I could give is already redundant.

Once closed though do the records just disappear or can they be traced? It has only just happened and you would think that there would be some kind of trail. Last time I tried to open a new bank account they wanted all kinds of details and I was told that was because of the risk of money laundering. This person cant just vanish can they? :lou_sad:

My daughter is gutted. She is in college and works hard in two part time poorly paid jobs to get cash to spend on things like this. She cant afford to lose this money and was really looking forward to the festival. These cunts make me so angry.

I know what you mean, but it does seem that there are ways around a lot of these things. You and I know nothing of them as we’re not looking to rob money from people. Those who are know how to do it.

There’s also the question of how much effort banks or coppers will put into something like this. If the original payment went to a valid account they’ll look at that, but if it turns out that said account had already been compromised (meaning that the thief could transfer money in and out) then the trail gets colder. Add a few more similar accounts and it gets to be a whole heap of time spent on investigating the loss of less than £200. Of course, it could lead to something much bigger, but how often will this be the case?

It’s not nice, but I’d reckon that’s pretty much how a lot of these things shake down in the end. I know justt how sanctimonious this is going to sound, but I think your daughter will just have to see this as a lesson to be learned.

Sadly I think you are right, galling as it is. The girls dont live with me so when something like this happens I guess I feel it more and try to over compensate for not being there on a day to day basis. I want to be able to help fix it and feel shit when I cant do anything more than sympathise. :lou_sad: Thanks for the feedback though.

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I worked in disputed transactions for a few years (mainly s75 card claims tbf but I’ve experience of most types of dispute). Unfortunately, as it’s a bank transfer the odds of getting the money back are miniscule. In 5 years working in the area I never saw it happen.

Obv different if it was a card transaction but with a transfer you’re effectively taking all responsibility for it. Report it to the police, report it to your bank’s fraud dept and they’ll do what they can. I wouldn’t hold much hope though, sorry.

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Sorry to here this sadoldgit. There are some truly horrible people out there, just looking for people to fleece. Indeed only last week my son brought a phone off someone from gumtree, only to find out after handing over the cash that the phone case was indeed real but the innards taken from some much lower spec phone… with that in mind anyone selling a smart phone let me know as I may be interested!

Thanks mate. Sorry to here about your son’s experience too. My kids are of an age now where niavety and innocence is being replaced by cynicism and real life experience. As has been said, it is a good life lesson for her but it is tough as a Dad to see her starting to take some heavy duty knocks. She has a good heart and finds it difficult not to trust - a perfect target. It has probably been a good lesson for us both as my first instinct was to replace the money she has lost but then if I did that then she will think that she will always be bailed out. Every day is a school day! Good luck with the phone!

Cheers mate. I feel exactly the same, nipper is 18 now and although I might help with part of the replacement cost, he has got to learn the real world isn’t all cotton wool. That said I’m too bloody soft and will probably fund the phone and many more niave mistakes he makes!