My son has fallen victim to a car sale scam where he saw an advert on a car sales website where the scammer advertised a car for sale and then advised him to email direct bypassing the security checks on the website. He very stupidly sent £2,900 to the bank account details given by fps. He has contacted the police who have said there is nothing they can do, contacted his own bank who have advised there is nothing they can do and is now speaking to Barclays (the recipient bank) to see if they can assist. Where can we go for assistance with this?
Already Tried: Police and two banks involved and the Pistonheads whose site was used
Hello Jacustomer,Unfortunately, your son has fallen for a very popular scam. Any time a desirable car is advertised on line at a price well below its book value, and there's some reason that either the buyer or a trusted friend or agent of the buyer cannot see the vehicle first and inspect it before advancing money, this ad will be fraudulent. The seller will try to say that the money will be held in escrow by someone reliable. But he's lying, and by the time the buyer figures that out, the seller and the phony escrow agent have disappeared from the web.Scammers are so successful at these because they know how to cover their tracks and disappear without a trace. Law enforcement can possibly put some pressure on Barclays, but likely the owner of that account is also the dupe of a scam, who has been told by her scammer that he'll be getting some money to hold for a bit. Then he or she will be instructed to wire some of it out of the country by Western Union or Moneygra,. The money trail will stop cold.The hard reality of a scam is that the odds of recovering the money are nil, unless law enforcement is willing and able to find the thief and bring hiim/her to justice.If your own local police have told your son there is nothing that they can do, try Action Fraud.I am terribly sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
Experience: 18+ years experience in criminal fraud matters