Scammed For £3000. What Chance Of Getting It Back?

[ladybirder]

My son and his wife have just been scammed for £3k and are in bits. It's the scam where the scammer sends you a cheque for more than the price of the deal and you give them the difference and then the cheque, which to all appearances has cleared, then doesn't. The bank concerned is Santander and is saying they are not responsible in any way.

They so desperately needed this money and I can't believe they've been so stupid. Had they mentioned it to me I would have warned them.

So question is, is there any chance or any way they can get their money back?

Thanks.

[bednobs]

have they reported it to the police?

[boxtops]

did they arrange this on-line, what site was it through if so (just in case there's some comback there)? How very sad. I think the bank is correct, they only handled a third party cheque.

[Daffy6543]

I think you'll find they have no way of getting it back. There have been lots of these cases over the years and I've never heard of anyone managing to recover their money.

[tamborine]

cant they cancel their cheque ?

[factor-fiction]

Was it done via an ebay transaction or other online sale?

[factor-fiction]

Very sad. It is a well known scam and it's sad that some people are still not aware of it.
I think it's probably too late to cancel the victim's cheque, tamborine, as that has probably cleared now. It's sometimes a week or more later that it is found that the scammer's cheque was a forgery

[hc4361]

The scammer is probably abroad, very difficult to prosecute.

[hc4361]

Santander can't be responsible as they just did what the customer told them to.

[ladybirder]

The deal was struck through email and then phone. It was a private deal for holiday accommodation. DiL spoke to him and of course he sounded very plausible if you don't know the scam. The shutters would have come down with me the minute he said his boss was paying for the transaction (accommodation) but he had one cheque only and that included the cost of his air fare and would they refund him the difference. Although initially sceptical, they so needed the money, they agreed. Wish to goodness they'd spoken to me about it first. Usually if they are in doubt about anything they do, but not this time. Both lost their jobs this summer as well.
Bednobs I have no idea if they have reported it to the police. Should they? The guy said he was in America.
Tambo I don't know if they paid him by cheque or ban transfer but either way you can bet your bottom dollar their money was safely in his pocket before he pulled the plug. They were both very upset on the phone, I couldn't question them tonight. Perhaps when they are calmer.
By what you all say it sounds hopeless then. Oh dear!

[factor-fiction]

So does your son and his wife have a property that they sent out to holiday makers?

Or was this one of those scams where the scammer asks someone to cash a cheque in return for a commission?

[ladybirder]

Yes, they let out a holiday chalet FF. It is advertised through the local visitor centre and a couple of other holiday let places plus they have their own ads and I guess as they arranged the deal it was through one of their own ads.

[Obiter]

This is an age-old scam and not restricted to abroad. In the days when cheques were readily acceptable in shops a common ploy was to buy an item, write a cheque for a sum slightly larger than the price, apologise profusely and request the surplus in change. Cheque later bounces, rogue has the goods plus pocket money!

[EDDIE51]

Tamborine the way it works is this.
You sell an item by advert in a local paper for say £100. A buyer sends you a cheque drawn on a foreign bank for around £5000 to pay for the item and says you cash the cheque keep £1000 and send me the rest back to me by Western Union cash transfer. The transfer will be to somewhere like Bangladesh or Pakistan
You pay in the cheque and 10 days later it appears to have cleared .You withdraw the cash keep your £1100 and send the rest off by Western Union cash transfer. You think you have made £1000 plus sold the item for £100. But another week or so later the cheque turns out to be a forgery or stolen and the bank take the £5000 out of your account.
ladybirder Sorry, but they have no chance of getting the cash back and the police will not be interested, as far as they are concerned there has been no crime and anyway it happened outside the UK.

[ladybirder]

How could it get worse Methyl?

The chalet, for one week, in high season, wouldn't have been more than £600/£700. How would you not realise that sending a cheque for over £3k was not a scam? They were both a bit suspicious. How could they have been so stupid? I could scream.

[hc4361]

It could get worse if they could possibly be charged with money laundering

[ladybirder]

Oh great! Thanks:-(

[hc4361]

Little prospect of that, though, as they will have all copies of the correspondence.

[jeffa]

I'd put this down to bitter experience and move on. They have zero chance of getting their money back, so no point in flogging a dead horse.

Could you not loan them them money until they get themselves back on their feet and can pay you back?

[hc4361]

But it should absolutely be reported to the police.