Facebook scam

[fendtfan]

I messaged a man on facebook about a tractor he was advertising. It was local to me so I asked if I could go and see it only to be told it was being sold by Bellman Plant and was in Exeter and he was a agent for them. I found a website for Bellman plant and made a online enqiry. A email string followed and i said i would buy a tractor unseen. I duly received a very professional looking pro forma invoice and the price included the vat which made it seem even better value and made me keener to get a deal done.. When I saw the bank details were for someone other than bellman plant ltd alarm bells begun to ring so I rang the number on the invoice. No answer but seconds later a foreigner rang back and explained the name being different to the company. I then accused the guy of trying to scam me and he immediately hung up. Beware I have looked on facebook marketplace since and found quite a few more potential scams using the same or similar methods .

 

[Universe]

It's a sad state of affairs such that every platform and every transaction that you make of any value you have to presume everything is dodgy until its proved otherwise.
You can only feel for the not so PC savy, and particularly the older generation who are like lambs to the slaughter. Added to that going forward it will probably only get worse too, as it seems anything & everything can & will be copied, doctored, replicated & falsified by bone idle gets who don't want to work for a living and just want it easy, knowing that a transaction as this every month or two will do nicely and they'll probably get away with it to boot.

 

[puppet]

Lesson number 1. Don't buy big ticket items unseen.
Lesson number 2. There are no other lessons

 

[fendtfan]

Those bone idle gets as you put it (Universe) are not so bone idle. The work they go to finding defunked companies creating websites and setting up accounts to try and scam us is considerable. We can only laugh when all their work is undone when someone catches them out. My efforts to report this through this medium are vary easy but try to report to the bank receiving funds takes hours online or to a call centre and or days reporting it to the police and you never know it will be acted upon to save anyone else from being defrauded.

 

[matthew]

Lesson number 1. Don't buy big ticket items unseen.
Lesson number 2. There are no other lessons

Yes - and no.
I found a muck spreader on line, at a dealer unknown to us, 250 miles away. So asked a few questions on here, with pms for the ID.
Several answered, for which I'm very grateful, and gave this company a very firm thumbs up.

I paid and the spreader is now at work in Cornwall, via Taunton and is as described and excellent.

There are always farmers or other dealers in the area, who may do the leg work for you if distance is a problem. Use someone else's eyes and ears.

 

[Universe]

Yes - and no.
I found a muck spreader on line, at a dealer unknown to us, 250 miles away. So asked a few questions on here, with pms for the ID.
Several answered, for which I'm very grateful, and gave this company a very firm thumbs up.

I paid and the spreader is now at work in Cornwall, via Taunton and is as described and excellent.

There are always farmers or other dealers in the area, who may do the leg work for you if distance is a problem. Use someone else's eyes and ears.

Yes but when they use a ligit company but payment terms are to elsewhere, not so easy (for some) to spot. And obv's folk will still give you a good reference...

Bought a tractor once off of the bay, no probs as such, seen it for sale three times now on the bay... Reported but it still ran it's course, wasn't stopped by them...
Only good thing it fetched more than I paid each time

 

[fendtfan]

Now I have learnt to recognise the bogus facebook sellers it appears they are using bogus ids and are using many of the same photos and descriptions and probably associated or are one in the same scammer.They are certainly not nanswering any of my messages.

 

[C G Parts]

Those bone idle gets as you put it (Universe) are not so bone idle. The work they go to finding defunked companies creating websites and setting up accounts to try and scam us is considerable. We can only laugh when all their work is undone when someone catches them out. My efforts to report this through this medium are vary easy but try to report to the bank receiving funds takes hours online or to a call centre and or days reporting it to the police and you never know it will be acted upon to save anyone else from being defrauded.

Suggest reporting them to Action Fraud as they often get lots of similar reports and can collate them.

 

[john432]

With all the technology at our fingertips.. first thing to do is do a what's app video call with the seller, walking around and zooming in on the machine for sale.If it's a tractor, you can ask to see it starting up ,moving through the gears etc... Don't accept some pre recorded video, it has to be live. Any genuine seller is more than happy to do a live walk around... This is only a preliminary check, things like googling the telephone number gives a lot of info on most of us who have been some time in business... There is absolutely no need to part with any money these days , untill your sitting in the tractor, or your appointed haulier is about to load it. A bank.tranfer is instant.

 

[C G Parts]

Always check out any phone numbers on 'Who called me' and similar scam lookups - scammers often use 'fronted' VOIP computer telephone numbers often starting with '0203' '0208' or similar.

They use what look like UK phone numbers but are often VOIP lines. They do sometimes use mobile numbers too, always check the number and best if you can whilst the caller is still on the line.

use stalling tactic is unsure of the caller, ask yourself how did they get your number, why are they calling you, do they add up, do they know what they are talking about? - if they are genuine they will know - but be aware some are clever and have scripts worked out. Matt

 

[Blu1]

I messaged a man on facebook about a tractor he was advertising. It was local to me so I asked if I could go and see it only to be told it was being sold by Bellman Plant and was in Exeter and he was a agent for them. I found a website for Bellman plant and made a online enqiry. A email string followed and i said i would buy a tractor unseen. I duly received a very professional looking pro forma invoice and the price included the vat which made it seem even better value and made me keener to get a deal done.. When I saw the bank details were for someone other than bellman plant ltd alarm bells begun to ring so I rang the number on the invoice. No answer but seconds later a foreigner rang back and explained the name being different to the company. I then accused the guy of trying to scam me and he immediately hung up. Beware I have looked on facebook marketplace since and found quite a few more potential scams using the same or similar methods .

I answered an ad for a horse trailer, to be told it was at Bellman plant in Exeter, would deliver etc wording was muddled and repetitive, no punctuation, said others were interested, funny it's still for sale.... if something seems to good to be true it probably is.