Son’s just been scammed!

[Macca04]

My son’s boiler packed up last week and he had a couple of plumbers round to give him quotes for a new one, decided to go with a local man as they like to support small businesses rather than go with a big company. He has been phoning and e-mailing regarding the work, he then had an email from the guy saying he could come and fit it next week but would need half the money up front. Son sent the money over, plumber phoned him today and asks if he’s sent him any money son says yes £1600 that you asked for in your e-mail. Plumber then informed him his email had been hacked and it wasn’t from him. Apparently it also happened to another customer. Son was absolutely gutted bank said there is nothing they can do money is gone.

The plumber has generously said he will do the work for the other half of the money and he will take the hit. My son would have found it really hard to replace the money that has been lost so is very grateful.

Apparently the other customer went mad and said he would ruin the mans business and demanded that he make it right. My son was very calm and the plumber appreciated the fact that he didn’t loose his cool with him.

A lesson to everyone don’t trust e-mails. I’m gutted for them both and feel sick that people can do this and sleep at night 😞

[tspill]

The other lesson is never send ANY money until the job is complete.

[Tinkerbell 1]

Originally Posted by tspill

The other lesson is never send ANY money until the job is complete.

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That’s a bit harsh. Not unreasonable for a tradesman to ask for money towards materials.
What I do is send a £1and ask for confirmation it’s been received before sending any more.

OP glad your son got is sorted and sure he would use/recommend the plumber again so hopefully it will work out.

[Macca04]

Thanks Tinkerbell, he’s certainly learnt a hard lesson.

He will certainly be recommending the plumber and give him good feedback.

[0420wilmut]

The other lesson - be kind and people will be kind back. I'm sure the plumber did the decent thing because your son didn't kick off!

[RachaelC]

Originally Posted by Tinkerbell 1

That’s a bit harsh. Not unreasonable for a tradesman to ask for money towards materials.
What I do is send a £1and ask for confirmation it’s been received before sending any more.

OP glad your son got is sorted and sure he would use/recommend the plumber again so hopefully it will work out.

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Definitely agree on the materials point.

The £1 test payment is a great idea too - will try and remember that one!

[papamouse]

am I the only one a little suspicious...

hack my email once, shame on you. Hack my email twice, shame on me.

I know how they do it, its quite an easy trick, but after it happened to this dude once, he shouldn't ever have let it happen twice.

Simplistically he gave OPs son an unsafe email address to communicate on. With no warning of previous events.

Secondly how were the funds transferred to the "scammer"? Traceable bank transfer? Paypal to the email account in question... so was the paypal hacked too?

at face value, nice gesture by the dude, but your son should have never been put in this position.

Tell me he isn't paying the rest until the jobs done now?

Personally if they haven't already, I'd get the police involved.

[Moorlandman]

Plumbers on-line security sounds very poor. I’m guessing he is not using a secure email service like Gmail?

[Macca04]

Originally Posted by papamouse

am I the only one a little suspicious...

hack my email once, shame on you. Hack my email twice, shame on me.

I know how they do it, its quite an easy trick, but after it happened to this dude once, he shouldn't ever have let it happen twice.

Simplistically he gave OPs son an unsafe email address to communicate on. With no warning of previous events.

Secondly how were the funds transferred to the "scammer"? Traceable bank transfer? Paypal to the email account in question... so was the paypal hacked too?

at face value, nice gesture by the dude, but your son should have never been put in this position.

Tell me he isn't paying the rest until the jobs done now?

Personally if they haven't already, I'd get the police involved.

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No he won’t be paying the money until the job is completed. Son transferred the money from his account into the account he was given. I did say to my son that we only have his word he hasn’t got the money. My son said he seemed genuine on the phone and very upset about it all. Apparently they hit my son and his other customer at more or less the same time.

Police have been informed.

[papamouse]

Originally Posted by Macca04

No he won’t be paying the money until the job is completed. Son transferred the money from his account into the account he was given. I did say to my son that we only have his word he hasn’t got the money. My son said he seemed genuine on the phone and very upset about it all. Apparently they hit my son and his other customer at more or less the same time.

Police have been informed.

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cool

money is traceable, easy for scammers to set up or hack bank accounts too.

Basically don't have the same password for everything.

If I sent you a fake Facebook log in, and asked you

"We think your facebook has been hacked, please follow this link to reset security"

it lands on a fake page and asks you for email and password.

If your online email account has the SAME password, I now have the details I need to read your emails...

And from there can reply with fake details for payments. Or the "I'm in Bulgaria and need some money".

Sadly some people get up every day and go to work, others get up every day and scam and rob people.