19 hours ago
'He lied to my face': Basildon Facebook marketplace scammer steals £1,450 camera
A FACEBOOK Marketplace scam has left a Basildon man £1,450 out of pocket after he was tricked into handing over a camera with a fake bank transfer.
Liam Hopper, 31, said the con had a 'massive impact' on his livelihood as a photographer after he fell victim to a man using a fake banking app to pay for the camera before vanishing and deleting his Facebook account.
Despite being savvy to online scams, Liam said the man's friendliness in person when he came to collect the camera skewed his judgement when he handed it over.
Impact - Liam is a videographer and photographer by trade and says the loss of the camera means he will have to take out a loan to replace it and keep working (Image: Liam Hopper)
Liam said: "When he arrived we went into my garage so he could check the camera, he told me he didn't know much about them and he was buying it as a gift for his girlfriend.
"He agreed to buy it and brought up a mobile banking app, I entered my details and it all came up correctly with the right bank; it didn't set off any alarm bells.
"We waited for five minutes and nothing happened, I said I can't let you take it without the money.
"I didn't realise when I gave my bank details it was a foreign bank account, at the bottom it said transactions can take between one and two working days.
"I thought it will pop in on Monday and let him walk away with the camera, but as time went by I began to think 'what have I done?'"
"Sure enough I went on Facebook to message him and the account was gone, as was the number he rang me on."
Theft - The moment the man walks away with the camera knowing the money won't go through (Image: Liam Hopper)
Following the incident on Sunday, Liam has reported the incident to police and is now urging residents to be aware.
Liam added: "It's my livelihood. My business insurance won't cover it because it's classed as deception rather than theft, if he had prized it out of my hands I would be able to get my money back.
"I will have to take out a loan to be able to do my job. Losing the money isn't the most aggravating thing, if I had dropped it and it smashed I could put it down to bad luck but he came into my house and lied to my face."
"I recognise online scams all the time, I've grown up with the internet; but I suppose having met and spoken with him I let my guard down.
"I'll never use Facebook again, there's no recourse against these scammers on their platform, zero accountability."
