The Uk based astro scammer

[Robindonne]

Oke.  I thought about adding this question to the scam thread in the marketplace section on this forum, but i wasnt sure if its read enough. 
 

To make a long story short: 

i reacted on a telescope advertisement in Belgium while knowing it must be a scam.  (Got the confirmation after having contacted the real owner of the used pictures in the scam ad)

after many “fraud-report”emails to that auction site, they finally removed the user account of the scammer. In the mean time i stayed in contact with him through email (he asked me to continue via email because the more detailed pictures were to large for the auction site chatservice😅)

we talked some days and today he mailed me the track and trace info ( a self made website of a non-existing shipping company)

the bankaccount however is from a uk based bank.  
 

i tried of course to contact Dutch fraud helpdesk etc, but surprisingly found not much cooperation😑.  I cant report it to the police because no crime is committed yet😑.  
 

so advice is needed where to get this info to.  
 

thx. 

Edited March 29, 2021 by Robindonne

[Pixies]

Report it to the bank?

[Pixies]

Actually, all UK financial institutions have a legal requirement to stop and report financial crime/fraud (see the recent fining of NatWest when it failed to do so).

They shouldn't ignore your information.

Edited March 29, 2021 by Pixies

[Robindonne]

Its a bank account from Helifax.  I just emailed them but surprisingly received the email as not able to be delivered??

im not scammed yet, but the amount of time waisted in reporting before, during and now after the scam is amazing.  
😑

 

so I tried:

https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/contact-us

they directed me to:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk

They didnt have a solution other than contact dutch fraud helpdesk, what i did. They told me im not able to report it to police because no crime is committed yet🙂.

what a weird world we live in

 

Edited March 29, 2021 by Robindonne

[fozzybear]

try sending info to security@halifax.co.uk worth a try

[Robindonne]

10 minutes ago, fozzybear said:

try sending info to security@halifax.co.uk worth a try

Will do that immediately 

[fozzybear]

Just now, Robindonne said:

Will do that immediately 

lets hope you get a response fingers crossed

[tooth_dr]

Halifax and Helifax?

[Robindonne]

8 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

Halifax and Helifax?

thanks.  Indeed Halifax.  Im not familiar with uk banks😬.  But the initial used email was correct.  Copied it from their website

Edited March 29, 2021 by Robindonne

[Paul M]

35 minutes ago, Robindonne said:

But the initial used email was correct.  Copied it from their website

I suspect their mail server rejected your email address assuming it wasn't from a recognised UK ISP.

The Halifax will likely employ some crude front end filtering to limit their own exposure to fraud and spam.