What to do for Fraudulent Sale? No loss

Lmasterash on 26/02/2019 - 11:26

Hi All,

Thanks to Ozbargain community as I read it somewhere on the site what happened to me and it saved me today.

I had a iPhone XS 64GB for sale and person came to pick it up today after agreeing on price over the phone. After checking the details, he said let me transfer funds to you via Netbank. I agreed and gave him my details but he said his account is business account so it may take 24hrs to clear. I said not a problem as soon s as I can see the funds in my account, you can take the phone.
He was in a rush as he kept saying he needs to catch a flight in the afternoon and he pretended his wife is calling him and phone was a surprise gift for his wife. I didn't see the funds in my account and refused to hand-over the phone. He kept insisting that I have transferred the funds and I am getting late. I told him, I will call Netbank to verify the transaction and if they confirm, I can give him the phone. I contacted Netbank support and they said they can't see anything in the account. He said let me talk to them. I put the phone on speaker, he gave his account details and after that took it off speaker as they needed to confirm his identity. I am not sure what happened after that. He was on phone for 5mins but suddenly said phone got disconnected. I told him I can't give him the phone until funds are shown in my account and started calling Commbank again.
At this stage, he said I have given you the money and it is transferred to your account, what more do you want. After that, he said I am in a rush my wife is calling me and I need to be at the airport. I will go home do the packing and will come and pickup the phone on the way to airport. I said that's fine as long as funds have been transferred to my account.
Later on CBA confirmed, no funds have been transferred to my account. If it is CBA to CBA transferred, it should still show in my account straight away and will be put on hold for 24hrs. I contacted him advising the same and he said he will contact me back but nothing Yet.

Should I report this to police, He as given me a copy of his passport which doesn't show the address as an ID and also screenshot of Netbank transfer which was not a transfer receipt but a scheduled payment receipt. I realize it later, I should have checked it more carefully.

Any suggestions on next step. Just let it go or report it to Police.

General Discussion

Comments

  • AdosHouse on 26/02/2019 - 11:37
    +6

    Wouldn't hurt to report if to the police in case he comes back or starts getting belligerent. Up to you.

    Chances are if he is just a scammer he will just move on to the next easy mark.

    • oscargamer on 26/02/2019 - 11:51
      -6

      Nothing to report. Don't waste police time with something that hasn't happened yet.

      • AdosHouse on 26/02/2019 - 11:57
        +1

        You can report suspicious activity. In QLD you can do this via PoliceLink app. No idea for other sites.

        I personally wouldn't be inclined to waste a uniformed officers time.

        • oscargamer on 26/02/2019 - 12:40

          OP appears to be in VIC.

          Sure they can report to Crimestoppers, which will do precisely nothing….

        • HighAndDry on 26/02/2019 - 13:07
          +7

          This is attempted fraud - enough to constitute a crime and totally reportable. I agree the police are unlikely to act if OP's is the only report, but it's possible the scammer has tried, successfully or otherwise, to scam others and the police would definitely act after enough reports.

  • foxmulder on 26/02/2019 - 11:42
    -1

    Report police. Even I really doubt they will do anything. Seriously, will police actually do something about this?

    • oscargamer on 26/02/2019 - 11:51
      -6

      No offence has been committed, yet. Don't waste their time.

      • altomic on 26/02/2019 - 12:06
        +3

        there is an offence. it is attempted fraud.

        • oscargamer on 26/02/2019 - 12:41
          -5

          It is NOT attempted fraud. Even for an attempted offence, evidence is needed, and we're not close to that….YET

          • HighAndDry on 26/02/2019 - 13:10
            +5

            @oscargamer: OP's testimony is evidence. The scheduled payment receipt which the scammer tried to pass off as an actual transfer receipt is also evidence. The phone calls to CBA too.

          • altomic on 26/02/2019 - 13:40
            -1

            @oscargamer: in QLD it is

            criminal code act

            408c (1)(b) fraud

            add on Section 535 for the attempt.

            the police could easy charge the fraudster with 408c & 535

            pretty sure that each state mimics the other in terms of such every day legislation

  • 87percent on 26/02/2019 - 11:45

    did you meet him at your house?

    • masterash on 26/02/2019 - 11:49
      +1

      I was going to meet him at my house but decided to meet next to work my workplace (literally across the road. Front of Coles). He took photo of my ID before leaving when he said I will come back to collect the phone.

      • oscargamer on 26/02/2019 - 11:52
        +20

        He photo'd YOUR id?

        Why in god's name did you allow that to happen??????

        • rack on 26/02/2019 - 12:02
          +2

          Never ever ever allow someone to photo your ID. Always ask them to handwrite if details are so required.

          • dcep on 26/02/2019 - 13:45

            @rack: i wanted to cross out photocopy IDs on homeloan paperwork but the bank refused to accept them

          • Cleartripe on 26/02/2019 - 15:33

            @rack: 100% percent agree with this. Have a colleague allow someone to photo his driving licence, in an accident. They guy still gets calls from random victims who have been scammed on gumtree using his faked id - sometimes its a $8000 jewellery, or a car..

      • 87percent on 26/02/2019 - 11:58
        +2

        Hopefully not your DL, if so, i would be getting a new one!

      • abb on 26/02/2019 - 12:04
        +11

        Bro you are gonna get identity-frauded.

        Call your bank NOW and tell them a scammer has acquired your name, address, DOB, and possibly account number. Don't reply to me here first. Don't even read the rest of my comment yet - CALL YOUR BANK IMMEDIATELY.
        With this information the guy may have already gotten the bank to reset your internet login and transferred out all your cash.

        The name on his screenshot is likely false.

        Does he know what time you are at work until? Is anyone else at home to deter an intruder?

        • masterash on 26/02/2019 - 12:30
          +5

          He photo'ed my work id which I has my name and employee id but no other details.
          He doesn't have my address or DOB but yes He has my bank account details.

          • abb on 26/02/2019 - 14:03
            +3

            @masterash: Ahh that's not quite so bad. Still don't do it again though!

  • barbarella on 26/02/2019 - 11:48
    +4

    The passport is probably fake too = means nothing :/
    Good on you for standing your ground - you did the right thing!

    • masterash on 26/02/2019 - 11:50
      +6

      Thanks to ozbargain Community. I remember reading this here on the forum that this exact same thing happened with someone and that person actually gave his mobile phone but couldn't recover the money later.

      I have his account details in Screenshot.

  • barbarella on 26/02/2019 - 11:52

    If you hear from him again tell him your brother is a cop and he will be with you if you see him again in the future.

  • bobbified on 26/02/2019 - 12:22
    +3

    Finally good to hear that someone has been smart about their sale!

    Truth is, the cops probably won't do anything unless there's more than one report for the same guy.

  • Ughhh on 26/02/2019 - 12:24
    +3

    Cash on pick up only and that will solve the problem. If he doesn't have the cash or is not willing to go to the ATM to get cash, then say bye bye. You're not legally obligated to say yes and accept the bank transfer.

    • try2bhelpful on 26/02/2019 - 15:08

      The problem is if you are given counterfeit money, but I agree it is probably less risky.

  • HighAndDry on 26/02/2019 - 12:33
    +1

    a scheduled payment receipt.

    Good catch, and good on you for being careful and not being rushed.

    It wouldn't hurt to go to the police - along with the scheduled payment, and basically tell them what you've told us here. I don't think they'd do anything, but if the same person's gotten a few reports, they might.

  • dust on 26/02/2019 - 12:51
    +8

    Great to hear a scammer story with a good ending for once!

  • Danstar on 26/02/2019 - 13:21

    Netbank to Netbank is instant

    I've even found Netbank to other banks like Westpac and ANZ go through after about 2 hours now (business days)

  • stirlo on 26/02/2019 - 13:38

    Cash is king

  • [Deactivated] on 26/02/2019 - 13:38

    what nationality was he?

    • altomic on 26/02/2019 - 13:41

      obviously he wasn't white. /s

      • masterash on 26/02/2019 - 13:51

        I am not posting specific details about him as I am not sure if I can be held accountable for something. I did a search on Google and have found his company details as he was wearing company logo t-shirt and also few more details but without pictures so I can't say whether it is him.

        • HighAndDry on 26/02/2019 - 16:27

          as he was wearing company logo t-shirt

          This guy just gets dumber and dumber…

          • tomsco on 26/02/2019 - 19:21

            @HighAndDry: Could be like that Toll guy that was wearing his ex employers top when he harassed that politician.

      • Cliche Guevara on 26/02/2019 - 13:51

        Maybe he's just curious about the passport. A persons nationality does not always imply a specific "race"… It might be useful to see if he's a known scammer.

        • masterash on 26/02/2019 - 13:57

          He was born in Australia so nationality is Australian. He is not from Asia or South- East Asia. He was quiet decent in his conversation and didn't feel like a fraud at all.

  • tomsco on 26/02/2019 - 14:37
    +1

    Good on you, OP.

    Interested to see if he follows up tonight.

  • tomsco on 27/02/2019 - 09:12
    +1

    Hey OP - did the "buyer" get back in touch with you?

    • masterash on 27/02/2019 - 11:16
      +1

      Nope. Didn't reply to my 3 messages from yesterday. I have just messaged him that I will be reporting this to Police. I will go to the police station after finishing work and will report it.

      • tomsco on 27/02/2019 - 12:24

        Once again, good on you for not caving.

  • gth on 27/02/2019 - 11:58

    Take a photo of the person + the vehicle & rego they arrived in. I've seen first hand how successful this is in recovering fraudulent funds.

    If you think the like "I've transferred the funds, the money will appear" is bad, then you'll really love the "Here's the receipt on my phone - you can see that I transferred the funds" ….using a fake-bank-receipt app.

    Be suspicious. I'll always prefer the cash on pickup these days, because of how many banks support reversal of deposits usually because the funds were taken from a stolen card, etc. Cash in hand beats any electronic record these days, which is a sad state given it's 2019.

    PS: anyone asking for craploads of gift cards, is also a big red flag. ;)

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