I Think I Might Have Been Scammed Selling Ed Sheeran Concert Tickets

Hi there, my first time posting so please be kind. I recently sold a pair of Ed Sheeran tickets on Gumtree because I couldn't make it the very last minute. Someone messaged me and said he would be happy to do a bank transfer with a screenshot of the receipt upon payment. That happened last Monday (Victoria public holiday)

I have never wanted to conduct bank transfers especially if the fund is not immediately cleared into my account. However, my friend told me that it's fine as long as there is a proof of receipt. Anyway, I got the picture of the receipt from his bank (he's with Westpac and I'm with NAB BTW) and I emailed him the tickets. Anyway, as of today, I have yet to see the money in my account and I tried calling him but his phone was turned off.

I went to NAB and they informed me that it could potentially take 2-3 business days for the funds to show. Otherwise I could file a dispute after today and they can look into it. I have the guy's email address and full name. I'm wondering if there is anything else that I can do to get in touch with him or at least track him down.

Any kind advice is very much appreciated..

UPDATE : Thank you everyone for your responses. I haven't been able to update for the past few days as I have been trying to recover my money but alas, to no avail. So yes, I've let this go and treat it as a lesson. Hopefully this post helps other people as well. I just wish people are kinder to one another.

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Comments

  • +16

    You are possibly out of luck as, realistically, that is insufficient information to chase anyone up on.

    • -2

      But I do have his bank details.. provided that it's his.. :(

      • +60

        From the receipt? If he’s faked a receipt but put his correct bank details, Than yeh, it’s possible he’ll get tracked down for being a dumb ass.

      • +4

        Know the seat numbers? Buy more tickets then go abuse them.

  • +8

    Google his details (name, number, whatever else you have) and see what pops up. I was looking for a Tradie, and was calling around a few places. Got one who was being a dumbass so I googled his number. I ended up finding his resume that he posted online, which included his full name, address and DOB.

    • +3

      Yes I found his Facebook and Instagram but I'm not sure if that's him. He could be using someone else's name.. Would messaging that potential person on Facebook and Instagram be considered a breach of privacy?

      • +26

        No.. hell no.

        • +1

          Okay I'll give it a go. What about messaging his friends?

        • +5

          @Meowwie: Technically speaking there is no expectation of privacy on the internet. If you message his friends through his email address and and they don't like it, then they should change their privacy settings.
          It only really becomes a problem if you threaten or abuse them.

        • +1

          @enceladus94:

          Technically speaking there is no expectation of privacy on the internet.

          Nor truthfulness of information.

        • @enceladus94:

          And even then..

        • +1

          @Meowwie:see if he post pics from Ed concert.
          Do your research on him. Shouldnt be that hard to know if he is the actual person of interest or not

        • +4

          @Meowwie: Skip the friends and go for the mother/father.

      • +3

        Has this person posted photos from the concert?

  • +29

    Defriend that person who got you into this mess

    • +7

      Yes, if you can't depend on your friends for accurate money management advice, why even have them?

      oh wait

      Thats not friends

      That's employees.

      Gotta stop confusing those two.

      • Yes Minister

    • +12

      Defriend that person who got you into this mess

      How do you defriend yourself?

  • +44

    PayID is the way to go forward with future transactions.
    Providing that your bank supports it, it's an instant transaction
    No more waiting 2-3 days.
    Take it as a lesson

    • Yes, I've just activated it as I didn't know about it before this.. I really hope I can track him down.

      • +1

        Hopefully you can, best of luck mate

      • +3

        After you find him, would you kindly ask the Easter Bunny to not bring me anything from Kmart this year?

      • There is Zero chance of you getting anything back. The receipt was a fake, so all the info on it will also be fake.

        No point in harassing some random person, or his friends or family, whose name you got off a fake receipt on social media because whilst in the back your mind you knew what you were accepting was risky, decided to go-ahead anyway.

    • +3

      One annoying thing I've learnt about PayID is that your first transfer is held for 24 hours which can subsequently be cancelled by the initiator.

      Something to keep in mind when selling stuff on gumtree via PayID!

      • +1

        Mine wasn't

      • +2

        I haven't had any of my transactions held.
        All mine were instant

        • +1

          ING is holding them between their own accounts for some reason. Transferring from another bank to ING is instant though. They can't explain why this is necessary.

          Seems pointless if the banks are going to be dicks and withhold payments in any case.

        • +3

          @hcca:

          ING used to always hold the first transfer between their accounts (though it's instant)
          PayID transfers between ING account doesn't seem to have the Osko symbol in the description. So I'm suspecting they default to their original method without actually sending it through Osko, and hence the wait time.

    • Payid can take upto 24 hours to clear if its an unknown account or not previously used. I've already done a few to test payid and both times I had to wait a 24hr clearance for first transaction. subsequent went through in like 30 seconds.

      Commbank.

    • +1

      I recently experienced buyers initiated charge backs (claiming fraudulent transactions) after 1 month. So, just because you received the money, buyers could still take advantage that PayPal (and I assume banks as well) won't cover it if your proof of delivery is just an e-mail. The proof of delivery has to be from a third party (the delivery company) and with address stored in the delivery company's system - so digital delivery is vulnerable against charge backs.

      Both buyers had their eBay accounts AND PayPal accounts hacked - well that's what they claimed.

      • Only for Paypal netsurfer. Buyers can't get chargebacks for bank transactions, only for credit cards and those you can easily dispute. Paypal one is sucky, which is why I recommend cash only on gumtree. I sold my Macbook for well over 2k and asked for cash. The buyer complied.

        • Cash is the best. I am still a bit cynical about bank transactions. A friend was able to get a BPay transaction reversed due to a typo (amount was incorrect).

          The issue is digital delivery, if I posted it instead, then all I needed to provide is the tracking ID and PayPal will pay (obviously it has to be an appropriate postage method).

          When everything went well, digital delivery is fast and quick turnaround for the seller, but when things gone pear shaped, it is a nightmare for the seller.

        • Bank transfers can be reversed on request

        • @LlamaLlamaLamp: Only the local ones and the seller can initiate a fraud claim since the bank will have the other persons details. Reversing a bank transaction is equal to writing a cheque that will bounce.

          But the main issue for this seller is that he was selling tickets which may have a no reselling policy. The buyer who scammed him can simplay point out that those tickets were never supposed to be sold and that's why he didn't pay up.

    • I did a pay ID transaction with my house mate last Sunday. Only became visible on Tuesday. It's by no means perfect yet

      • Can you let me know which banks they were between?

        • Mine is Commonwealth, think he is with IGN or something. 3 letters, begins with I. Has a lion logo

        • @tassietigermaniac: ING. Hmm I find it so weird that PayID isn't consistent. But I'm sure it'll get better with time

        • @coco1458: just because a bank supports PayID doesn't mean they support the rest of the NPP.

        • +1

          @LlamaLlamaLamp: thank you for clarifying that up for me. I guess they're all at different stages of implementation

        • @coco1458: Banks are responsible for their own fraud rules. Generally speaking, each extra hour of mandatory payment hold will save $$$ in fraud losses. So the banks need to constantly weigh up the optimal time for reducing fraud expense while not annoying the customer.

          The only alternative would be for banks to offer an account with 0 fraud protection - i.e. if your login gets compromised, too bad, you have no protection. Only then could they offer instant transfers.

  • +28

    Sell them again to someone else and tell them to get there early!

    • +1

      Fantastic idea had the event not already passed.

      • +2

        Wouldn't stop the average Gumtree user…

    • The concert was on 12 March..

      • -6

        ever heard of photoshop? change dates.. lol

        • -3

          There was only one session in Melbourne I think. So changing the date is silly.

          My colleague really wanted to watch it, but not willing to pay for expensive tickets, so he went to another state. Had OP sold the tickets to my colleague, it would have been a win/win.

        • +1

          @netsurfer:

          I think there were 4 Melbourne concerts in total? We bought tickets for a present for someone and had to try for several concerts when he started adding new shows in but there was definitely more than 1 in Melbourne.

  • +3

    get your friend to pay

  • +2

    Use new tech: PayID is the way to transfer money now
    https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/managing-your-money/banking/in…

    • +6

      Can this technology turn back time?

      • +11

        Not even Aqua can do that.

        • +18

          What about Cher?

        • +2

          "Turn back time" was after the Death of Sonny.
          So, no…

        • +2

          @holdenmg:
          We have to go back to Novemmber 12, 1955 Marty!

        • +1

          @singlemalt72:
          How we go back to before John Delorean got busted but still keep the Delorean DMC-12.

        • +1

          @singlemalt72: 88 miles per hour and 1.21gigawatts Marty!

        • @D C:

          She kept asking “if I could turn back time”. So no.

        • Hi.

  • +28

    Your friend is an idiot.

  • +11

    Not sure much you can do but wait to see if it comes through

    If it doesn't, here's one suggestion. Assuming his bank details you have are correct, transfer $0.01 into his account and write something VERY rude in the description. That stays on the account forever.. He'll look like a fool if he hopefully needs to provide back statements to someone for something

    • -1

      Lol, nice idea! ;)

      The only issue is there quite a low character limit in the description that you can send.

      • +12

        Unfortunately… Yes
        But I forgot the most important step.. "rinse and repeat"!

        Imaging what you can write for $1 ;P

        Cheap thrills…

    • +16

      Pfft, why limit this to your enemies. I've been doing this when I transfer funds to friends for years.

  • +7

    the comments are so nice but really c'mon, it's incredibly easy to fake a receipt and gumtree is incredibly well known for scammers there's no way you should have sent the tickets until you saw the money in your account, i hope the money shows up but i wouldn't bet on it, especially at this point.

    unless he was dumb enough to use his real bank details in the apparent receipt there is not much the banks will do, they aren't going to let you witch hunt based on an email address or phone number, you could take it to the police in hopes the email/phone/facebook/insta you found actually pan out but i don't know how high priority getting ripped off a couple ed sheeren tickets will be

  • +27

    Your friend is really the gumtree person and scammed you.

  • +1

    Post a picture of the receipt

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