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Have you fought back against a scammer?

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Profile photo of Faye Lipson Faye Lipson Senior Researcher/Writer
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Have you ever tried to turn the tables on a scammer? We’re looking to hear from scam victims who have fought back and taken action.

Hopefully you know how and where to report a scam if you experience one. But have you ever gone further and taken direct action against a fraudster?

We’ve seen countless examples of different types of scams both in my monthly Scam Watch column in Which? Magazine, and here on Which? Conversation.

As we leave the European Union today, criminals may even try to exploit uncertainties by posing as your bank, the police or other organisations asking you to transfer money or personal data.

Fighting back against scammers

With so many scam attempts being made every day, I’m looking to hear from people who have fought back against these fraudsters.

I’m looking for inspiring stories from victims who’ve sought justice after a scam. Action could include:

⚖️ Lobbying MPs or regulators for structural change

⚖️ Hiring a private investigator or turning detective yourself

⚖️ Launching a social media campaign

⚖️ Bringing victims of the same scam together

⚖️ Suing the scammers in court

Get in contact with us

Regardless of the outcome, we want to hear from you. If any of the above describes you or someone you know, please get in touch in the comments and let us know.

If you’d prefer to get in touch anonymously, our emails are always open. You can contact the Which? Conversation team on:

conversation.comments@which.co.uk

The team here will then ensure we’re put in contact directly and confidentially.

Hoping to hear from you soon.

Comments
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wev says:
31 January 2020

A few years ago, I tried to make police and other authorities aware of a scam affecting thousands

The Serious Fraud Office did nothing
Trading Standards did nothing
Crimestoppers did nothing
Police did nothing
Writing to MPs did nothing

There’s no point fighting back. No one cares

I’ve also been waiting more than half a year for Action Fraud to start an investigation into a company that scammed me out of £2000

I don’t think I will hear back from them

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HeatherSoper2 says:
23 April 2020

wev, Sadly what you wrote was all too true. The Organisations supposedly put there to protect the public are the very organisations who shut the door on you. I gave the police evidence on a plate and they did
Nothing at all.
One day I will write a book, I have had a 3 year nightmare that is still as yet unfinished.

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VynorHill says:
31 January 2020

The emphasis must be on avoiding the scam in the first place. As an ordinary public member, I don’t have a chance of identifying the scammer let alone bring a law suit against him/her/them. Neither has the government or police if they operate from the remote regions of a foreign country or, worse still, are sponsored by a state itself. All we can do is highlight attacks so that others are aware of what is going on. I hope that a lot more is going on behind the scenes, but we don’t get to hear much about scammers being caught and punished. It does seem to be the perfect crime at present.

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George Martin says:
31 January 2020

Hopefully if we can find someone who has taken action and been successful Faye can highlight it as an example to show everyone how it can be done.

Agree on the need for the emphasis on avoiding scams, too. I hope you’re all finding the examples I and many other members of the Which? team have been sharing on Convo recently helpful.(https://conversation.which.co.uk/tag/scams/)

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wev says:
31 January 2020

Some scams are so subtle or complicated that the public have no chance of avoiding them if they look enticing or are manipulated into joining

My fraud report was over 500 pages long and took months to research and write. An ordinary public member wouldn’t have the time or patience to read it all and understand would happen to them if they went in

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Kelvin Meyler says:
10 February 2020

Remember the golden rule ‘if it looks to good you can guarantee its a scam’ don’t touch it.

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Heather Soper says:
23 April 2020

Yes. I threatened to make a Statement to the Police, it scared him and after 9 weeks, today I got the money back.
The thing people should take note of, is This:
If you make a Statement to the police you Do Not get your money back, and it’s Wrong. I was told this by the police.

If you take him to the small claims court he won’t have any money and the court will order him to pay some silly amount like 50p a week.

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Richard Curran says:
24 April 2020

Most e-mail scams are easily spotted, I sometimes store these for 12 months and when getting 3/4 I copy the e-mail from ‘A’ onto ‘B’s e-mail deleting my e-mail address and inserting ‘B’ senders e-mail address.
& sending it off. then ”blocking” both, checking they are not on my e-mail address list if so deleting them there also. At end of the day a little self styled retribution.

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tonpal says:
25 April 2020

When I have the time, and when I am in the mood I enjoy playing with telephone scammers by pretending to go along with them, pretending not to understand, asking questions, as far as I can go without giving any real information to them. I think that as long as I am wasting their time they are not scamming someone else. BUT REMEMBER that when doing this it is vital to be on guard against giving away any scrap of real information.

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Mich says:
5 August 2020

I do the same thing- in fact, it’s a challenge to see how long I can keep them on the phone… I take great joy knowing that whilst they are dealing with me, they are not scamming someone else. A couple of calls I have even heard my call being put onto speaker for their colleagues to listen as well to “fruit loop on the phone..😜😬😹😹 “ that’s at least 2 out of action for a little while 😂😂

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Thomas Bennett says:
27 May 2020

on 26th May I accepted offer of free CBD oil for my arthritis. I paid for postage. I have heard nothing since, but on my credit account there are payments to be made to Merge. I am unable to make any contact with the company no trace of it on the WEB , the promised email has not arrived. The product was supposed to be recommended by Mary Berry.

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