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Refundee recovers £21,000 from fake vehicle purchase scam
Published September 2, 20260 min read
Amount lost
£21,000
Amount recovered
£21,000
Duration
7 months
The client initially saw an advertisement for a car on social media, which showed professional photos, and a reasonable price. They indicated their interest in the vehicle and exchanged messages with the seller online.
Our client agreed to pay a deposit to secure the vehicle, which would take it off the market for our client to eventually purchase. After the deposit was paid, the seller advised that a separate company would handle the delivery of the car.
Shortly thereafter, the delivery company then contacted our client to arrange delivery and issued a series of invoices for additional charges. Despite paying numerous charges for delivery, shipping, loading/unloading, storage and car tax etc, all of which the scammer claimed would be refunded upon delivery, the vehicle never arrived.
Was the vehicle ever real?
That remains to be seen, however the scammers claimed that the vehicle had been incorrectly seized by the police and that was the reason for non-delivery.
The reason did not matter to our client - they realised they had lost a significant amount of money and they were the victim of a purchase scam.
They were looking for answers, until they found Refundee. We provided a thorough investigation and helped the client through the process of recovering their funds.
We helped our client gather all the evidence they needed and provided a bespoke report to the bank, showing why our client should be reimbursed.
The bank initially rejected the complaint, which we then escalated to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The FOS agreed that the bank was at fault, and our client was reimbursed the full £21,000 they lost.
Summary
A car advertised on social media never arrived. After the deposit, a fake delivery company issued invoice after invoice for shipping, storage and tax. The bank rejected the complaint, so we escalated to the Financial Ombudsman, which found the bank at fault and refunded the full £21,000.
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