I've just been conned - help

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Always-Riding

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I placed a wanted advert on Facebook looking for a saddle and a lady got in contact with me. Saddle was exactly what I am looking for.

I paid via bank transfer - in reflection I shouldn't have done so.

I got a little curious as the saddle is a lot less than it is worth so googled it on ebay and found the exact same photos of the saddle she sent me.

I googled her name and it sent me straight to a thread on here back in March last year where she conned someone else.

What should I do?
 
Sadly when you buy privately, you have no recourse in law. Any chance she is selling other saddles? Maybe she is a dealer, but uses FB/Ebay & poses as private? :( Not what you wanted to hear, sorry.
 
How did you send the money? Paypal, through your bank etc?

Also, you should probably give her time to send the saddle before you jump to conclusions you've been scammed.

I'd thsn set up a dispute through Paypal/bank and see what happens.
 
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longdog said:
Sadly when you buy privately, you have no recourse in law. Any chance she is selling other saddles? Maybe she is a dealer, but uses FB/Ebay & poses as private? :( Not what you wanted to hear, sorry.
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She maybe - I may get into trouble for this but her name is Sophie Blanchett - thought it would be OK as we have "mutual friends" but clearly not.
 
HaffiesRock said:
How did you send the money? Paypal, through your bank etc?

Also, you should probably give her time to send the saddle before you jump to conclusions you've been scammed.

I'd thsn set up a dispute through Paypal/bank and see what happens.

But I suppose the police would be your next bet if all else fails.
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I paid £200 for the saddle and found it on ebay for £600 ends in 2 days. The seller is in another part of the country to which Sophie is in.

There is another member on here who has previously posted about being conned by her.
 
I've spoken to two other people now who she's conned out of money.

Bank said they can't stop or "refund" the money. Im just glad it wasn't a huge amount of money but i will be reporting it.
 
This kind of fraud is very common in most areas of retail and easy to fall for if you're not aware of such crooks.

Report it to the police straight away. If you can find other people who have also been conned, get them to report this wretched woman too.

It doesn't matter if you feel you can write the money off, do what you can to stick it to her and make it less easy for her to do it in the future.

How dare she! My blood is angried up for you!
 
Goldenstar said:
This is not so fraud is fraud.
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As above this is clearly a case of fraud / obtaining money by deception. As others have said go to the police station and make a report.
The police have a duty to investigate & do not take no for an answer. If no joy as to speak to the duty inspector and press the matter.

Crime is crime.
 
With regards to having the bank get your money back, I think it's only credit cards that are able to do a 'claw back'. I don't like credit cards, but have just applied for one purely for distance buying / online purchases.

We could all do with a few lessons in avoiding fraud. Sadly most of the time we only get to hear about these things when one of our friends has fallen victim.
 
As an accountant, and previously a business owner, I'll add my thoughts into the pot.

First do a bit of research - try to find anything you can about her from her ebay account. Or any internet links. Contact anyone you know (including the HHO person instigating original thread) and get as much information as possible.

Then contact the police, and try your damnest to obtain a crime number.

Then report them to trading standards.

Then report them to ebay (even if you didn't buy via ebay, still report them as selling an item you have bought but have not received) - telephone ebay if necessary to explain situation and give crime number if possible.


If you paid by.....

1. Credit card - report to your credit card and ask them to reverse the transaction.

2. Paypayl - as CC above. Open a dispute immediately (I think you can do this even if you did not buy through ebay) and request a reversal of transaction. Might be worth ringing paypal to explain the situation.

3. Bank transfer - contact your bank immediately. Explain the situation, give a crime number. Ask them to reverse transaction. They might not, but ask anyway!


With ALL the above authorities, be calm but firm. You are a victim of crime and require your money back.

Lastly, (and possibly should be firstly), you have given them enough time to send said item to you, haven't you??? Have you been communicating with them to ask has it been posted, tracking number of parcel etc.....

Even if you don't need the money, don't let this happen to someone else!!!

Good luck! :)
 
Can't add to advice already given, but thought I'd mention that mutual friends on Facebook can also be selling pages, or local businesses that you both use. Not sure how it exactly works, but some pages show as 'friends' when they're just pages that you've liked.
 
My bank wouldn't refund/stop the transaction but after a bit of investigating she is well known for this sort of thing so please be aware.

This is not the first time she has done this either, and gets away with it by her parents "refunding" the money on more than one occasion which resulted in the fraud claim against her being dropped or just using an excuse after excuse .

I have got my money back, but I think it's only since I found out her address where her parents live and promptly the money was returned.

She is still claiming that she's sending me the saddle and to pay for it once I recieve it. But I'll see what happens as it's clearly not the saddle on ebay as I contacted the seller!
 
If its Sophie blanchett I can help!! It's happened to lots of people but her dad has given us out money back and the police are involved!! If its her call me on [Content removed] and I will give you all the info you need to get your money back.
There is also a page on Facebook called beware of equestrian fraud from Sophie blanchett and you will see all the people on there Jodie
 
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jodie33 said:
If its Sophie blanchett I can help!! It's happened to lots of people but her dad has given us out money back and the police are involved!! If its her call me on xxxxxxxxxxx and I will give you all the info you need to get your money back.
There is also a page on Facebook called beware of equestrian fraud from Sophie blanchett and you will see all the people on there Jodie
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Really not wise to post your phone number on a public forum - pm the op instead. :)
 
Lancaster police have a case against this girl!! All info is on Facebook page beware of equestrian fraud from Sophie blanchett! Can't believe how many people this is happening to!!
 
Of course you have recourse in law for theft fraud and deception by a private individual!

Police then civil claim - dont pay a solicitor, pm me and I'll draft your particulars of claim if you struggle with the civil side.
 
Just seen the other thread on this; sorry to hear this nasty piece of work is still up to her old tricks. I also have all her details as was in contact with Jodie over this and I spent a long time cyber stalking her in order to get refunded! Let me know if I can help as would love to see her get her comeuppance big time! The more people who report her the better as she clearly hasn't learnt.
 
I've just randomly checked out that Facebook page. What really strikes me, and I know we shouldn't judge a book by its cover, is that she looks like a decent, young girl. There is even a picture of her riding and it all looks very respectable and if she shows then people must know of her. Her having her own FB page too seems very strange for someone who has conned so many people.

I wonder if that's really her or if that's really her or if someone has taken the profile of someone else?

Or if it is her, perhaps she has some serious behavioural issues? Not that I'm condoning what she's done at all, but it would make sense for her personal profile to be so brazen, and how her parents seem to keep bailing her out. It's all very, very odd.

I do hope you get your money back though. It's enough to put you off buying stuff over the Internet.
 
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