There's no fool like an old fool...
Discussion
A cautionery tale for the bike banter crowd....now even though I am rapidly approaching 60 I don't think I'm nieve or in anyway foolish, I'm no IT genius but I can manage. I knew facebook marketplace needed to be treated with respect given the level of scams taking place but as I type this I can only sit back and thank my lucky stars I have (hopefully) got away scot free.
So needing a couple of bits for my baby GS I was pleasantly surprised when I saw this pop up on a Facebook group for GS owners that lurk around.
So I entered into a bit of text tennis with what I thought was an oily fingered mechanic, to be fair he had clearly done some due diligence or was well practised in the art of deception as I didn't smell a rat. I checked over the posting and page transparency ( very convincing) and decided to proceed with the purchase. So bank details were sent and these were checked by my bank in app and verified and I made payment and took a screenshot as the seller had asked for proof of payment. Funds left my account then a moment later bounced back along with a message from my bank that they had stopped the payment and would block any further payments to that account.
Still having not twigged I rang my bank who explained the account number and sort code had flagged up and they would not authorise any payments nor lift the block. Banks come in for a lot of stick, quite often justifiably however on this occasion they prevented a fool and his money from being parted.
I'm sure many will read this especially the younger crowd and think " wouldn't happen to me you clown " but the truth is it could. Their Facebook page is still up, go and take a look and see what you think. I have since noticed they use the same tactics on other owner Facebook groups claiming to be breaking that particular bike and offering parts with convincing photos. I hope this saves someone from getting turned over, its clearly lucrative for the scammers, I was lucky on this occasion.
So needing a couple of bits for my baby GS I was pleasantly surprised when I saw this pop up on a Facebook group for GS owners that lurk around.
So I entered into a bit of text tennis with what I thought was an oily fingered mechanic, to be fair he had clearly done some due diligence or was well practised in the art of deception as I didn't smell a rat. I checked over the posting and page transparency ( very convincing) and decided to proceed with the purchase. So bank details were sent and these were checked by my bank in app and verified and I made payment and took a screenshot as the seller had asked for proof of payment. Funds left my account then a moment later bounced back along with a message from my bank that they had stopped the payment and would block any further payments to that account.
Still having not twigged I rang my bank who explained the account number and sort code had flagged up and they would not authorise any payments nor lift the block. Banks come in for a lot of stick, quite often justifiably however on this occasion they prevented a fool and his money from being parted.
I'm sure many will read this especially the younger crowd and think " wouldn't happen to me you clown " but the truth is it could. Their Facebook page is still up, go and take a look and see what you think. I have since noticed they use the same tactics on other owner Facebook groups claiming to be breaking that particular bike and offering parts with convincing photos. I hope this saves someone from getting turned over, its clearly lucrative for the scammers, I was lucky on this occasion.
GriffoDP said:
I assume you've reported the page/account thing to Facebook?
Facebook have been made aware by others but don't/ won't act...given how widespread scams are they are clearly not to policing their platform. They don't remove posts that that have been reported to them and are happy to let posts run to attract more traffic/footfall.....buyer bewareI moderate a Range Rover group on Facebook, any post that is a variation of 'Message ACME Parts...' just gets binned and banned straight away, there are thousands of those t
ts on there. Likewise anyone who responds to a genuine request for assistance with 'Message me' or 'DM for details' gets the same treatment.
ts on there. Likewise anyone who responds to a genuine request for assistance with 'Message me' or 'DM for details' gets the same treatment.Chippy 123 said:
A cautionery tale for the bike banter crowd....now even though I am rapidly approaching 60 I don't think I'm nieve or in anyway foolish, I'm no IT genius but I can manage. I knew facebook marketplace needed to be treated with respect given the level of scams taking place but as I type this I can only sit back and thank my lucky stars I have (hopefully) got away scot free.
So needing a couple of bits for my baby GS I was pleasantly surprised when I saw this pop up on a Facebook group for GS owners that lurk around.
So I entered into a bit of text tennis with what I thought was an oily fingered mechanic, to be fair he had clearly done some due diligence or was well practised in the art of deception as I didn't smell a rat. I checked over the posting and page transparency ( very convincing) and decided to proceed with the purchase. So bank details were sent and these were checked by my bank in app and verified and I made payment and took a screenshot as the seller had asked for proof of payment. Funds left my account then a moment later bounced back along with a message from my bank that they had stopped the payment and would block any further payments to that account.
Still having not twigged I rang my bank who explained the account number and sort code had flagged up and they would not authorise any payments nor lift the block. Banks come in for a lot of stick, quite often justifiably however on this occasion they prevented a fool and his money from being parted.
I'm sure many will read this especially the younger crowd and think " wouldn't happen to me you clown " but the truth is it could. Their Facebook page is still up, go and take a look and see what you think. I have since noticed they use the same tactics on other owner Facebook groups claiming to be breaking that particular bike and offering parts with convincing photos. I hope this saves someone from getting turned over, its clearly lucrative for the scammers, I was lucky on this occasion.
Can't really see that well from the screenshot but it looks to be non-uk cars in the background and an asphalt you wouldn't see in the UK, that alone would cause a wide steer from me. So needing a couple of bits for my baby GS I was pleasantly surprised when I saw this pop up on a Facebook group for GS owners that lurk around.
So I entered into a bit of text tennis with what I thought was an oily fingered mechanic, to be fair he had clearly done some due diligence or was well practised in the art of deception as I didn't smell a rat. I checked over the posting and page transparency ( very convincing) and decided to proceed with the purchase. So bank details were sent and these were checked by my bank in app and verified and I made payment and took a screenshot as the seller had asked for proof of payment. Funds left my account then a moment later bounced back along with a message from my bank that they had stopped the payment and would block any further payments to that account.
Still having not twigged I rang my bank who explained the account number and sort code had flagged up and they would not authorise any payments nor lift the block. Banks come in for a lot of stick, quite often justifiably however on this occasion they prevented a fool and his money from being parted.
I'm sure many will read this especially the younger crowd and think " wouldn't happen to me you clown " but the truth is it could. Their Facebook page is still up, go and take a look and see what you think. I have since noticed they use the same tactics on other owner Facebook groups claiming to be breaking that particular bike and offering parts with convincing photos. I hope this saves someone from getting turned over, its clearly lucrative for the scammers, I was lucky on this occasion.
I see tonnes of these on Facebook. Breaking all sorts of cars, even in foreign countries when it's a UK based group. Posts where you can't comment and only give you an option to message via WhatsApp are dead giveaways too.
I was nearly caught out by a health insurance scam once, just for a few seconds. I asked what company they're calling from and they told me they worked with various health insurers. The blasé way in which they answered the question totally fooled me for a moment. While she carried on speaking about the wonderful and totally legitimate products they offered, I realised I didn't get an answer so I asked again who she worked for. She clammed up and ended the call.
Most will get caught by one, one day. Big props to Natwest for catching this one and saving your hard earned.
I was nearly caught out by a health insurance scam once, just for a few seconds. I asked what company they're calling from and they told me they worked with various health insurers. The blasé way in which they answered the question totally fooled me for a moment. While she carried on speaking about the wonderful and totally legitimate products they offered, I realised I didn't get an answer so I asked again who she worked for. She clammed up and ended the call.
Most will get caught by one, one day. Big props to Natwest for catching this one and saving your hard earned.
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