Police have issued a warning after a man was conned out of his gold chain by a scammer
A man in Co Fermanagh reported an incident to police after he sold a gold necklace he had listed online but the money never arrived. According to PSNI, the man sold the jewellery for a considerable sum of money and was shown a screenshot of the money transfer at his address before subsequently handing over the necklace.
Unfortunately for the man, who was informed by the buyer that it could take 24 hours to credit into the seller’s account, the money never arrived. Police said quite often, this ‘proof of payment’ is shown either online or via text and urged sellers to not hand over goods until they have confirmed the money is in their account.
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A police officer said: “We are encouraging local people to be cautious when selling items online this festive season.
“Sadly we are finding that such ‘evidence’ of supposed payment can be faked by fraudsters and so our advice is that sellers should not accept pictures or screenshots of money or bank transfers as proof of payment. And that goods are only released to buyers after sellers have confirmed that full payment has been credited to their preferred account, or if cash is exchanged in person for the item.
“If this sounds familiar and you think you may have been a victim of a similar fraud, please call us on 101.”
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