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Scams
41

Yes but no, at least in the first instance, and then it can be complicated. From the (previous) FOS website, cleverly presented in a pdf Google found. I could not find a link on the current AFCA site and it is possible but unlikely anything changed since FOS was rolled into AFCA, so pardon the extracted paste-in. Bolded italics added. @Gregr , I note your methodology is best practice :slight_smile:

Fact Sheet

Mistaken internet payments

Internet banking

Internet banking is an easy way to electronically transfer money from one account to another. It is important to get the BSB and account number right, because banking systems only use the account number when processing the payment. The account name is not used to transfer the payment.

It is important to check (and double check) the account number when entering it in your internet banking system for the first time. If you are making a big payment, we recommend you transfer a small amount first and check that the payment has been received. If you have sent money to the person before and they are in your preferred list, make sure you choose the right person when making the payment.

What is a mistaken internet payment?

If you do enter the wrong account or BSB number the payment will be made to the wrong account (unintended recipient). This is known as a mistaken internet payment.

The ePayments Code sets out a process that will help consumers get your money back if it has gone to the wrong account. The ePayments Code is administered by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)i. The Code does not apply to small businesses who make internet banking transactions.

What if I transfer money to the wrong account?

If you have made a mistaken internet payment, you need to contact your bank or credit union immediately. Your bank or credit union will then contact the unintended recipient’s bank to try and get the money back.

If the money is still in the other person’s bank account and it is a genuine mistake (because the account name and number do not match), then the process for recovering the money depends on how quickly you have reported the mistake to your bank. If you report the mistake:

Within 10 business days : the funds will be returned to you.

Between 10 business days and 7 months : the recipient’s bank will freeze the funds.

The recipient will then have 10 business days to show they are entitled to the funds. If they do not, the funds will be returned to you.

After 7 months : the funds will only be returned if the other person agrees.

If the money is not in the other person’s account when the receiving bank is notified, then the receiving bank must make a reasonable attempt to get the money back. For example, by negotiating with the unintended recipient to repay the funds.

If your bank or credit union does not help you to fix the mistaken internet payment, you can lodge a dispute with the Financial Ombudsman Service Australiaii.

What if money is incorrectly transferred into my account?

If money is incorrectly transferred into your account, you should notify your bank. Your bank will then try to return the money to the sender.

You should not spend or withdraw the money transferred into your account by mistake because it is not legally yours and you have to pay it back.

and the pdf advisory goes on to comment on Bpay and unauthorised transfers.

2 Likes
42

Mine does not. How do I know. I’ve had substantial frequent deposits made to one of my bank accounts from a very well known Australian enterprise. This continued for a number of months, despite notifying my bank, one of the big 4, the deposits were unexplainable. As far as they were concerned all they needed to do in response was to verify to me who was making the payments. End of their interest in the matter!

I made several attempts to resolve to no avail. Many months (6+) on I was being hassled by my bank to authorise transfer of the said deposits back to the bank! A very different and far from positive experience compared to the banks initial dismissive attitude.

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43

Not an advertisement, just scammers moving onto and into a legit page and fleecing people. It is apparently fine with Meta, aka Facebook as it meets their standards.

The real reveal is FB standards include fleecing people.

44

Oh the irony. You post a link to an article on a site that is infested with ads and clickbait rubbish.

But, if the Facebook personality has a verified tick, then any other pretenders can be, and will be, shut down by FB.

1 Like
45

Ordered a mini AC fan via a facebook add. Did receive the item but after the first use it works no more. Unfortunately did not pay via paypal. As has been reported on other posts the senders address is Royalway, PO Box 1219, Mountain Gate, VIC. Although the transaction was listed on my bank statement as Kowloon in US dollars , $136.00 AUD, it says the sender is in Australia. I guess I won’t hold my breath trying to get a refund but I will have to post a letter asking for one. I should have checked the scam pages first.

3 Likes
46

If you paid by credit card, you may be able to get the charge reversed if you give the bank the details of the transaction and failure of the people to reply.
I only buy overseas, which I do regularly on sites like eBay, AliExpress, made-in-china.com etc.
Yes, PayPal is the only way I will pay.
Facebook is the home of dodgies and scammers.
What is more Facebook don’t appear to care from observation.

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47

Hi @harv50, welcome to the community and highlighting this ‘scam’ company. It appears you aren’t alone…

If you paid by credit card through their website, I would be contacting your credit card issuer advising you may have unintentionally given your credit card details to scammers, through a website that looked legitimate.

It appears the scam may be to further charge credit cards in the future by sending phantom products. This might be done to try and get around credit card charge back processes.

I would also be keeping an eye on your credit card account to ensure there aren’t any fraudulent/unauthorised transactions until such time you have instigated a new card being issued.

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48

Hi @harv50 - I’ve moved these posts to an existing topic - seems this specific scam has been around for a while - see post from July 21, and followups with helpful suggestions for various payment methods …

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49

I got “done” last year, in trying to buy a running wheel for my fat and lazy cat. It was dead cheap but I had not seen it at other prices so I bought it… it never arrived of course, and although they claim it was delivered in December, it was not.

What I have subsequently realised is that scammers wont give paypal as an option for purchase… I’ve written it off now, and have not had any strange “purchases” on my card… but still, its a lesson to be learnt.

There are also good sellers advertising on fb with whom I have been quite satisfied.

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50

Facebook performs valuable social functions but around 50% of it’s content consists of scams . Facebook prominently features scams and those scamming Ads stay up for months or more . This is a very long way from being good enough . Yes , put this topic at the top of the list until these scamming ads are ended .

                                          John Maher
1 Like
51

Hi @tfmeagher03, welcome to the community.

Facebook, along with many other ‘free’ social media platforms are driven by revenue. If a scammer is happy to pay for advertising on these platforms, Facebook happily accepts their monies and associated advertisements. As a result, they do nothing to ensure advertisements are trustworthy and genuine. Facebook even goes one step further by each new app/web version, making it harder to report scammers and their predatory fingers.

But, it will come back to bite them. Advertising has value when there is trust in the information being presented. As Facebook choses to seek revenue over trust, the value of advertising on such platforms will diminish over time. It is short term revenue over long term pain.

If they continue to do nothing to stop scam advertisements, their business model will fail as the trust in advertising on their platform disappears resulting in loss of advertising value/revenue.

52

I saw a wave of scam entries appearing in my feed about a week ago. And others that were not scams but just businesses paying FB to send stuff to targetted demographics.

I just report each one straight away as either scams, or not relevent, depending on what type it is.

That takes care of them. Never see them again. Until the next lot arrive. Rinse and repeat.

53

There is an older similar topic now merged, and a few related about ad blockers worth reading.

For those not familiar, the ‘Fluff Busting Purity’ add-on blocks most of the FB BS. It does not work on mobile/tablet browsers. I have used it with Windows/Firefox for years and when I use FB on my phone it is amazing how much rubbish I do not see on the PC. It has lots of options and can become a bit overwhelming to get exactly what one wants but they are all tick boxes.

1 Like