I got scammed and I managed to get some of my money back.

[Sunly]

I would like to share what happened to me so that hopefully no one will have to go through whatever I went through.

Its a long story, so I will have to break it into different parts.

This was my first attempt to buy a watch online and needless to say that I made every mistakes that I could.

It all begun by me posting on WTB last May, becoz of the watch I try to find was rare and I was looking for a better deal. To my surprise, a seller message me and ask for my email and he sent me some pictures of the watch and I was thrilled.
The pictures looks legit (of course becoz it was stolen from previous post from other seller and I only find out after when it was too late) He sent me some link of reference which I clicked on and again it's look legit (again the scammer was pretending to be another watch dealer with previous reference check on the forum)
The price he was asking was good but not great, it was like 10% below what other previous seller was asking and it was within my budget so I quickly agreed to buy the watch.

The seller claimed the watch himself are located in UK and at that time, I was going to visit London in 2 months time and I suggested to meet up and deal in person when I get to UK, but he insisted he need the fund to buy another watch for his up coming wedding (another red flag, how could I fall for that!)


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[cop414]

Watching for the rest of the saga. Was this “seller” a TRF member?

[jrs146]

Terrible story. Sounds like there’s a partially happy ending though. So how was it resolved?


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[JayB]

Sorry to hear but what happened next?

Also any details on seller to help prevent others falling victim?

[77T]

Originally Posted by cop414

Watching for the rest of the saga. Was this “seller” a TRF member?

I don’t think so Tim. A quick check shows the WTB cited in the story didn’t run here.

If there is anything to learn it is this: stories that start elsewhere, and then are dragged into TRF, need to have a “moral to the story” right up front.

After years of reading the digital ink and tea leaves, (without delving into all the twists, turns, dead ends and OT arguments) the buyer sent money to a scammer, figured that out after the fact, and lost said money (or in this case part of the money). The 4th Burma Shave sign would say, “Buy the Seller First” within a minute.

Long serialized tales and backstories don’t really add value


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[Sunly]

Originally Posted by cop414

Watching for the rest of the saga. Was this “seller” a TRF member?

Yes he was, but I reported him back then and his account was banned.



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[Sunly]

So after agreeing wiring money to his UK bank account, he even sent me a picture of his UK ID with the same name as his bank account. (Later on I found out the ID pic was Photoshop) I felt quite safe but my watch buddy suggested I should used Paypal, so I checked with the seller if PayPal was acceptable but the seller said he only accept bank wire transfer so I went ahead with the wire transfer the next day.

My bank told me becoz it's international wire transfer, it may take 2-3 working days for the money to credit into the seller account. So I email the seller and ask him to check his account in a few days.

Few days passed, the seller said he still haven't received the money. So I went back to my bank and asked for an update, my bank said they don't get any confirmation or acknowledgement unless the transfer have any issue. I couldn't believe this is the case but they told me to wait a few more days.
About a week later, seller still confirm he didn't get the money and my bank still can't give me any confirmation if the wire transfer was successful. The seller than suggested to cancel the payment and try resend to another bank account.

So I went back to my bank, requested the cancellation and refund. At the same time, the seller urge me to make another payment to his cousin account. Now this is a major red flag even as stupid as I am can't miss. I told the seller I will do so only if I get my refund back.

At this time, I finally start doing what I suppose to do before agreeing to the deal. I photo search on Google of the watches and ID photo he send, found out it's all stolen. He even send me pictures of his wedding which again it was stolen from the web. I send messages to a couple member for reference check and manage to get in touch with the dealer he pretending to be. All lead to only one answer, the seller is a scammer.

I reported to Admin at the same time and I was hoping I can still get my money back. However, few days later my bank told me they finally got a confirmation that the money dis went through to the seller account the next day I make the transfer. I was so mad with my bank as not just unable to cancel my transfer but also giving me confirmation like 2 weeks later.

At the same time, the scammer keep pushing me to make another wire transfer to his cousin account, as if he never received the first transfer. He even called me on my mobile and urge me to make the second transfer and he promise he will ship the watch (which he dosent have) once he see my new transfer receipt. I tired so hard no to shout at him over the phone as to tip him off.
I immediately went to the local police, however there was not much they could do. I also reported the case to action fraud UK. I called the UK bank to tip them off about a criminal is using their bank for online fraud and send letter of complaint about their bank allow someone with a false identity to open a bank account.
At the same time, as I keep refusing to make another transfer, the scammer suggested he will send the watch to me first and I could make the transfer after receiving the watch. He even sent me a link of a courier website and a tracking number. If I enter the tracking number on the link he provided, it shows a parcel is on its way to my address. (This guy or group is very sophisticated and I am sure I am only the only victim)

The UK bank did call me up after received my complaint letter and advised if my bank could issue an indemnity, they are willing to refund whatever there is left in that bank account to me. So I went back to my bank and ask them to issue the indemnity, they refuse to do so. So I took the case to my country banking authority. At the same time, I also took the case to the UK Financial Ombudsman Service.
In the end, my local banking authority wasn't able to forcey bank to issue the indemnity, but the UK Financial Ombudsman Service did manage to get the bank to refund what ever there is left in the scammer account to me.(I got around 80 % back) The officer from Ombudsman services mentioned I did good on tipping off the bank so they could freeze the account before anymore money was withdraw.

I never buy anything this expensive let alone buying it online. The shame,the guilt, all the negative feeling and that I can't tell anyone becoz it's so foolish when I find out what a big mistake I have made was unbearable.

It took me about 10 months to get some of my money back, but the moral of the story is do not give up even it seem long lost and of course please do your due diligence and if possible do use PayPal.

I hope no one will ever fall for any scam anymore, but these scammer is getting ever more cunning. We as watch lover have to stay vigliant.



.

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[importstunna]

First of all, sorry to hear that. I am glad you were able to get most of your money back and I hope the scammer eventually gets caught and goes to jail.

[MonBK]

Sounds like your bank sucks big time.

[ashokleyland]

Nice to hear you got at least some of your money back.

[Urosfan]

Sorry to hear it

[ocwatching]

wow...glad you were able to recover some of the funds...
and I really applaud your perseverance
thanks for sharing..

[gaoxing84]

that's a great story..

i was scammed once on a batman from a a-hole of missouri.

never again. lost 8500 usd that i am not getting back so I am very wary of people that i deal with and i always expect a tagged photo before sending funds.

stay alert guys

[MinMay]

Thanks for sharing. I'm so glad you got most of your money back. Can you reveal his name and email address in public? This will allow others to search for him online...even though it's fake. Once a person is label as a scammer online...his life is going to be ruin forever.

I wish I can remove my WTB ad.

I think we should have a checklist in purchasing watch. I have my own checklist.

[chessers]

Got to be so careful, I've made a few buys now on here and WUS, two were face to face and the other two I wired the money.

Always contact mods or other members via PM and try and get references that way if you can. Always ask for work email address and phone number and do all the checks that you can.

The unfortunate thing is that nice pieces cost a lot of money, so there is always that level of exposure.

Glad to hear that you recouped some of the funds back.

[jvmartin]

What was in the package shipped to you? Or was that all faked somehow?

[breitlings]

wow great tenacity.

[Statos]

Glad you got part of your money back. But remember there are people that use Paypal to scam the seller. It goes both ways.

[Sunly]

Originally Posted by jvmartin

What was in the package shipped to you? Or was that all faked somehow?

Is all fake, the website is fake. The tracking number dosent work if you dobt use the link provided. It won't work if you search the company from Google.

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[Sunly]

Originally Posted by MinMay

Thanks for sharing. I'm so glad you got most of your money back. Can you reveal his name and email address in public? This will allow others to search for him online...even though it's fake. Once a person is label as a scammer online...his life is going to be ruin forever.

I wish I can remove my WTB ad.

I think we should have a checklist in purchasing watch. I have my own checklist.

He was pretending to be another legitimate watch dealer, and I saw a couple of thread saying they got contacted by the same scammer so I don't think sharing his email will help anymore plus it may confuse others with the legit dealer.

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[Sunly]

Originally Posted by MonBK

Sounds like your bank sucks big time.

They are, and I pulled out most of my money and downgraded my status since then

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[Sunly]

Originally Posted by importstunna

First of all, sorry to hear that. I am glad you were able to get most of your money back and I hope the scammer eventually gets caught and goes to jail.

That is what I was thinking too. Since I got a real bank account I was hoping the police or the bank can do something. I even called a couple of UK law firm asked if they can help and even think of hiring a private detective. But one of the lawyer said its no use. You can get how angry I was and just hope these scammer get caught and no other watch lover should go through the same.

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[brandontran]

Sorry to hear your situation. I know how you feel. I just got scammed last month. Sucks!!

Originally Posted by Sunly

So after agreeing wiring money to his UK bank account, he even sent me a picture of his UK ID with the same name as his bank account. (Later on I found out the ID pic was Photoshop) I felt quite safe but my watch buddy suggested I should used Paypal, so I checked with the seller if PayPal was acceptable but the seller said he only accept bank wire transfer so I went ahead with the wire transfer the next day.

My bank told me becoz it's international wire transfer, it may take 2-3 working days for the money to credit into the seller account. So I email the seller and ask him to check his account in a few days.

Few days passed, the seller said he still haven't received the money. So I went back to my bank and asked for an update, my bank said they don't get any confirmation or acknowledgement unless the transfer have any issue. I couldn't believe this is the case but they told me to wait a few more days.
About a week later, seller still confirm he didn't get the money and my bank still can't give me any confirmation if the wire transfer was successful. The seller than suggested to cancel the payment and try resend to another bank account.

So I went back to my bank, requested the cancellation and refund. At the same time, the seller urge me to make another payment to his cousin account. Now this is a major red flag even as stupid as I am can't miss. I told the seller I will do so only if I get my refund back.

At this time, I finally start doing what I suppose to do before agreeing to the deal. I photo search on Google of the watches and ID photo he send, found out it's all stolen. He even send me pictures of his wedding which again it was stolen from the web. I send messages to a couple member for reference check and manage to get in touch with the dealer he pretending to be. All lead to only one answer, the seller is a scammer.

I reported to Admin at the same time and I was hoping I can still get my money back. However, few days later my bank told me they finally got a confirmation that the money dis went through to the seller account the next day I make the transfer. I was so mad with my bank as not just unable to cancel my transfer but also giving me confirmation like 2 weeks later.

At the same time, the scammer keep pushing me to make another wire transfer to his cousin account, as if he never received the first transfer. He even called me on my mobile and urge me to make the second transfer and he promise he will ship the watch (which he dosent have) once he see my new transfer receipt. I tired so hard no to shout at him over the phone as to tip him off.
I immediately went to the local police, however there was not much they could do. I also reported the case to action fraud UK. I called the UK bank to tip them off about a criminal is using their bank for online fraud and send letter of complaint about their bank allow someone with a false identity to open a bank account.
At the same time, as I keep refusing to make another transfer, the scammer suggested he will send the watch to me first and I could make the transfer after receiving the watch. He even sent me a link of a courier website and a tracking number. If I enter the tracking number on the link he provided, it shows a parcel is on its way to my address. (This guy or group is very sophisticated and I am sure I am only the only victim)

The UK bank did call me up after received my complaint letter and advised if my bank could issue an indemnity, they are willing to refund whatever there is left in that bank account to me. So I went back to my bank and ask them to issue the indemnity, they refuse to do so. So I took the case to my country banking authority. At the same time, I also took the case to the UK Financial Ombudsman Service.
In the end, my local banking authority wasn't able to forcey bank to issue the indemnity, but the UK Financial Ombudsman Service did manage to get the bank to refund what ever there is left in the scammer account to me.(I got around 80 % back) The officer from Ombudsman services mentioned I did good on tipping off the bank so they could freeze the account before anymore money was withdraw.

I never buy anything this expensive let alone buying it online. The shame,the guilt, all the negative feeling and that I can't tell anyone becoz it's so foolish when I find out what a big mistake I have made was unbearable.

It took me about 10 months to get some of my money back, but the moral of the story is do not give up even it seem long lost and of course please do your due diligence and if possible do use PayPal.

I hope no one will ever fall for any scam anymore, but these scammer is getting ever more cunning. We as watch lover have to stay vigliant.



.

Sent from my BAC-L22 using Tapatalk

[Sunly]

Originally Posted by brandontran

Sorry to hear your situation. I know how you feel. I just got scammed last month. Sucks!!

Oh man....What action did you took? Anyway to track down the scrmb bag?

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[77T]

Originally Posted by MinMay

I wish I can remove my WTB ad.

If your WTB is on TRF, you can try by clicking the “report” button and enter the reason “please remove - I am the originator”. A Moderator can usually do this - s/he may Message you privately to understand.




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[steversaurus]

Terrible situation, but obviously could have been much worse. Lesson learned.

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[BillA]

I think you should disclose the scammer

[AbsolutelyROLEX!]

Originally Posted by BillA

I think you should disclose the scammer

Yes definitely, as much info as you can
It will show up in google search for anyone checking him for validity

[brandontran]

I was scammed by this guy. If anyone came across his name. Stay away!!


https://bustednewspaper.com/nc-court...--bryan--lance

[HK Islandboy]

Originally Posted by MonBK

Sounds like your bank sucks big time.

Why is that? The bank’s responsibility is to execute the wire transfer as quickly as possible following the customer’s instruction - which it sounds like they did. Why would the bank then be expected to indemnify a foreign institution for loss because the customer made a mistake

Don’t get me wrong - nobody should have to go through what the OP has gone through, and his tenacity at following up is amazing and as a result the end result is much better than generally seen in these cases. However, the bank has no culpability here.

The lesson for all of us who do cross border watch deals is that we are totally reliant on the good faith of sellers. This will become even more true as payments get faster (pretty soon international wires will be done in minutes, not days)