Got cheated

[Master PC]

 I was looking for a GPU around market price in a buy/sell group on FB in my country, or but slightly higher. And this one person offered me to sell a RTX3060Ti for a slightly higher price than the market price last sunday. I paid by bank transfer. However, upon paying him the money, I didn’t receive the product even now.  
 

There were other victims who got conned in the Facebook group. I was thinking about demanding a refund, but the chance is only 50% as people got blocked by the scammers, or even threatened with criminal intimidation or legal action. One victim pointed out that even if you get the refund, the money may be laundered or stolen. 
 

Should I ask a refund from him and risk receiving threats or stolen money, or just forget demanding refund and go make a police report?

[TetraSky]

Yes???
They are the ones in the wrong, not you. Report them to not only FB, but also the authorities if they make any sort of threat toward you.

 

And how did you pay for them?
If you paid with your credit card or paypal, you can get it back simply by calling your card/paypal and telling them it was fraud and they never sent the product in question.

If you paid with cash, gift card, bitcoins or some other method... You're probably shit out of luck and take this as a lesson to never pay with those, for there's no buyer protection.

[Master PC]

15 minutes ago, TetraSky said:

Yes???
They are the ones in the wrong, not you. Report them to not only FB, but also the authorities if they make any sort of threat toward you.

 

And how did you pay for them?
If you paid with your credit card or paypal, you can get it back simply by calling your card/paypal and telling them it was fraud and they never sent the product in question.

If you paid with cash, gift card, bitcoins or some other method... You're probably shit out of luck and take this as a lesson to never pay with those, for there's no buyer protection.

Ok…what if I message him and ask him for a refund? If he screws with me, then I’ll go make a police report. 

[Fasauceome]

40 minutes ago, Alexander Dennis E500 said:

However, upon paying him the money, I didn’t receive the product until now.

So, you did receive the product?

[Lurick]

2 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

So, you did receive the product?

I believe they are saying they haven't received the product still. (as of now no product has arrived)

[Master PC]

4 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

So, you did receive the product?

No

[Fasauceome]

3 minutes ago, Alexander Dennis E500 said:

No

Ah, you might want to change "until now" to "even now"

 

Always pursue a refund if you are owed a product. But you are right, this user probably blocked you. It's unfortunate that a bank transfer was what you chose because as I understand it, there is no way for your bank to reverse that.

[Chris Pratt]

3 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

Ah, you might want to change "until now" to "even now"

 

Always pursue a refund if you are owed a product. But you are right, this user probably blocked you. It's unfortunate that a bank transfer was what you chose because as I understand it, there is no way for your bank to reverse that.

Yep, which is why the user wanted you to use that method. Bank transfers are real money (or at least as real money as any money is). Always use a credit card for purchasing online. That's credit and can be reversed. Services like PayPal work as well, because there's an authorized bank account on the other end to pull the funds back out of, typically.

[Master PC]

8 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

Ah, you might want to change "until now" to "even now"

 

Always pursue a refund if you are owed a product. But you are right, this user probably blocked you. It's unfortunate that a bank transfer was what you chose because as I understand it, there is no way for your bank to reverse that.

He didn’t block me, but I can’t just go ahead and confront him yet. 

 

I’d ask for a refund, but as I mentioned, the “refund” may be stolen money. In fact, a victim in the group said another scammer screenshot his profile and threatened to expose everyone that he’s a money launderer when he tried to ask for a refund from him. 
 

That’s why I’m cautious and had to wait out on asking for my refund. 

[LogicalDrm]

5 minutes ago, Alexander Dennis E500 said:

He didn’t block me, but I can’t just go ahead and confront him yet. 

 

I’d ask for a refund, but as I mentioned, the “refund” may be stolen money. In fact, a victim in the group said another scammer screenshot his profile and threatened to expose everyone that he’s a money launderer when he tried to ask for a refund from him. 
 

That’s why I’m cautious and had to wait out on asking for my refund. 

Unless you live in a country with scummy legal system, you aren't breaking any laws by demanding and receiving refund. In a same way as you can't be held responsible if someone buys something from you using counterfeit money. You are still victim. You become suspect only if you are certain, or are informed before accepting that money is acquired by illegal means.

[Arika]

1 hour ago, Fasauceome said:

as I understand it, there is no way for your bank to reverse that.

Banks can always attempt a funds recall. However it can never be a guarantee to get your money back.

 

If they have already taken the money out the the account it was transferred into, there is nothing to recall.

They may attempt to provide something to their bank to show they sent the item (fraudulently) and depending on the Bank's policies, that may be enough for the recall to fail.

 

In that case it would be a civil matter and something your bank is no longer able to assist with.

 

However since you did a bank transfer and it was done through facebook marketplace, should should have their name and account information to report to the police.

[Fasauceome]

3 hours ago, Alexander Dennis E500 said:

He didn’t block me, but I can’t just go ahead and confront him yet. 

You can start with a shipping update and if you think it's fishy you can pursue a refund after the fact.

 

3 hours ago, Alexander Dennis E500 said:

I’d ask for a refund, but as I mentioned, the “refund” may be stolen money. In fact, a victim in the group said another scammer screenshot his profile and threatened to expose everyone that he’s a money launderer when he tried to ask for a refund from him. 

That sounds a lot like an empty threat, because a screenshot of a profile with dirty money that the scammer was using is not evidence against the victim.

[lewdicrous]

Take screenshots of any/all interactions with the 'seller', just in case you need them for a dispute/report.

[tikker]

6 hours ago, Alexander Dennis E500 said:

I’d ask for a refund, but as I mentioned, the “refund” may be stolen money. In fact, a victim in the group said another scammer screenshot his profile and threatened to expose everyone that he’s a money launderer when he tried to ask for a refund from him.

Unless I'm missing some legal detail, how on Earth would him exposing himself as a money launderer harm you? I think that could only hold water if you knowingly accept money that is 100% surely laundered.

 

Furthermore, doesn't that other victim now basically have a written confession of him laundering money? That should be something you can take to authorities.

[Roswell]

Always pay for goods with a Visa/MasterCard/whatever since they offer buyer protection. PayPal if absolutely necessary (their system is not as robust and doesn’t heavily favor buyers as much).

[Andreas Lilja]

He's not going to refund your money.

 

Police report is most certainly a waste of time, as the profile is likely fake.

[adarw]

the slower you do this the likely your going to lose your money, all of the people who got scamed inculding you, should contact a lawyer. show that lawyer all the screenshots and proof. we dont know how bad banks and governments are in Taiwan. 

 

i cant believe people fall for this stuff.

[Middcore]

You're not going to get your money back. 

[adarw]

3 minutes ago, Middcore said:

You're not going to get your money back. 

probly.

[Jtalk4456]

On 9/3/2021 at 7:50 AM, Alexander Dennis E500 said:

Ok…what if I message him and ask him for a refund? If he screws with me, then I’ll go make a police report. 

From the way you worded this, you got scammed. whoever did this is a liar and a thief. Let's say a snake for traditional comparison. You already got bit, should you start walking back toward the dangerous snake? No. Get the police involved, like yesterday. If you want ask for shipping updates to show that you attempted to resolve, and if he blocks you like the rest, you can show that to the police too. Most likely you just made a big mistake and are now gonna pay what Dave Ramsey calls a "stupid tax". Sorry it happened, but don't crawl back in the snake pit again, please. 

[Master PC]

Update on the case:

 

I made a police report yesterday. As I accidentally deleted the conversation between the scammer, when I had to spring clean older convos from Facebook Marketplace. I still have a screenshot of his profile and phone number. As I lost my bankbook, I have to replace a new one and then get the transaction history out. The police might suspect that the bank account that I wired may be a fake.

 

The cop that I spoke with said I may need to appear in court soon, but what is the chance I may receive a subpoena for this situation?